Riley GreenAs the dust settles following the now-infamous phone-throwing incident at Riley Green’s Melbourne show over the weekend, former AFL star Nick Riewoldt has detailed his own involvement in the debacle.
On Saturday, March 14th, Green was performing the penultimate track of his second show at Melbourne’s Margaret Court Arena when a phone was thrown by a member of the audience, striking Green near his ear, and resulting in a trail of blood quickly running down his neck following the impact.
Green paused the performance momentarily while the crew rushed to assist, wiping away the blood with a hand towel as the crowd looked on. Despite the shock moment, the Alabama singer quickly addressed the situation from the stage and made it clear the behaviour wouldn’t be tolerated.
Though he managed to finish the show, Green did require stitches backstage.
However, former St Kilda forward Riewoldt spoke to Mick In The Morning’s Mick Molloy, Rosie Walton, and Titus O’Reilly on Triple M on Monday, March 16th, explaining how he played a small role in the apprehension of the alleged phone-thrower.
"I saw this happen; it unfolded right in front of me,” Riewoldt explained. “We wanted to be as close to the stage as possible.
@marieemariaa Who threw the phone? I just wanna talk 🥊 #rileygreen
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"I pegged this bloke early on – the bloke who has eventually thrown his phone – as being a real wanker. A loose cannon, he was real ‘big energy' vibes. The sort of bloke that comes over asks you for a photo, you pose for him, he has a photo, and then he starts heaping shit on you afterwards.
Riewoldt explained that the alleged offender was also filming him during the show without his permission, and was saying some “pretty ordinary stuff” which the former sportsman characterised as “a bit inappropriate and weird.”
"Eventually, the second-to-last song finishes and out of nowhere he has launched – like he was trying to throw the stumps down from mid-wicket – his phone at Riley Green and hit him in the head,” Riewoldt continued.
"It was an amazing throw, I reckon we were 10-15 metres away,” he added. “He smashed him in the side of the head which took everyone by surprise. I was standing right behind him, so I kind of grabbed him.
“He's done it and then everyone was kind of a bit shocked. Riley Green handled it pretty amazingly; he just said, ‘Can we get the lights on,’” he added. “I pointed the guy out, let everyone know, and within three seconds security was all over him.”
Green continues his Australian run of shows with two performances in Sydney at the Horden Pavillion on Monday and Tuesday night, before heading up to Queensland to headline the Friday night of CMC Rocks QLD.
He’s since taken to Instagram Stories to joke that he’ll also be passing out tethers for phones at the Monday performance in hopes of avoiding a repeat incident.
