‘Far too much’: Robbo questions star Tiger’s 20k fine for nightclub brawl

AFL 360 co-host Mark Robinson has questioned the $20,000 fine handed to Richmond star Shai Bolton for his involvement in a nightclub altercation, saying it’s too harsh a penalty for the 22-year-old.

Richmond and Bolton will make a $20,000 donation to Tomorrow Man, a foundation working with boys and men to develop healthy masculinity, after the AFL in conjunction with Richmond completed its investigation into the incident that left Bolton with a broken wrist and teammate Dan Rioli with a bruised eye.

Speaking on AFL 360, Robinson revealed league CEO Gillon McLachlan had spoken directly with Bolton about his actions on the night before explaining he would be fined as the code tried to reinforce the message to walk away from violence.

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Robinson said not everything was “black and white”, with Bolton’s fine too dear for his liking.

“They’ve whacked him with a $20,000 fine. Fair dinkum. All of the available evidence is not with us. The AFL nor Richmond will say anything about how he broke his hand.

“There’s only a couple of ways he could’ve broken his wrist … the AFL slapped him with a $20,000 for trying to send a message to the rest of the public to walk away from violence – $20,000 is far too much in my opinion, far too much.

“

Co-host Gerard Whateley said he didn’t agree with Robinson’s on-field, off-field analogy and that the $20,000 fine “gives you a hint as to the severity of the act”.

Bolton’s teammate Jack Riewoldt told AFL 360 later on Tuesday the fine was significant, but the club had to move on.

“I think those sorts of instances always need to be investigated So the truth can come out and you can find out what actually happened,” he said.

“Daniel and his partner found themselves in a situation, Daniel was hit and Shai stepped in, I don’t know what happened after that.

“The $20,000 is pretty steep, it’s large to anyone really but it’s finished now. Yeah, it’s finished, now we’ve got to an end to it and we move forward.”