Police called for crowd control after Port Kembla v Thirroul U15's match chaos

The under 15s match between Port Kembla and Thirroul Butchers was called off early after an on-field melee escalated to include spectators and spilled over into the crowd.

The ugly scenes which continued for about 10 minutes, according to witnesses, were reported to police and three vehicles, a wagon, and two highway cars, responded so the visiting Thirroul contingent could leave safely.

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At one stage an official was forced to position themselves between a parent and player to prevent a confrontation from becoming any more physical.

Illawarra Junior Rugby League's interim manager Blake Edwards said due to the nature of the incident, the overarching body, the NSW Rugby League, will now deal with the issue.

"It isn't being handled directly by the district but these incidents are taken particularly seriously," he told the Mercury.

"Because this involves the code of conduct, we are looking at our options around safety."

That may mean buying additional bodycams for the referees, having more officials on the sidelines to support ground managers and, at the most extreme length, closing gates to everyone other than players and backroom staff.

"The sad part of it all is that 99 per cent of the time it's the players who are doing the right thing," Mr Edwards said.

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"If parents and adults cannot work out how to control themselves then we seriously have to consider how we deal with it.

"I would hate to lock parents out of a game because I believe watching your kids play sport is an absolute privilege," he said.

"The problem is the message is just not getting across."

The Mercury has contacted both junior clubs involved for comment.

"We've followed all procedures and protocols," Port Kembla Junior Rugby League president Tash Clifford said.

"We've submitted our report so we will just have to wait and see what happens from there."

A Thirroul representative was contacted for comment.

It is believed sanctions will be delivered this week before the next round of footy on Saturday.

Mr Edwards said whatever verdict is delivered, parties will have the opportunity to appeal the decision.

The district proactively decided to trial GoPros on referees amid a growing focus on player misconduct and referee abuse in various codes across the state, including in the Illawarra junior league competition.

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