THE man at the centre of the infamous 2004 AFL grand final day brawl at Cazalys believes "95 per cent'' of people in Cairns' football fraternity would be happy to see him return to the sidelines.
Former North Cairns Tigers coach Jason Love said yesterday that Port Douglas supporters would be the only ones against him if he wanted to return to AFL coaching in Cairns.
"I think 95 per cent of the people up there (in Cairns) would be fine,'' Mr Love said yesterday. "It's that 5 per cent that 60km up the road that might not be happy about it.
"It's eight years. That's a long time to serve a suspension.
"I think the majority of people have moved on. I moved on a long time ago.
"It's just football and if people haven't moved on then they've got something wrong with them.''
AFL Victoria this week accepted Mr Love's appeal to have his right to coach reinstated.
The decision on Tuesday night came after Mr Love served an eight-year suspension handed down by AFL Cairns after the violent melee.
The brawl involved up to 50 players, officials and spectators seconds after the completion of the national anthem.
Footage of the brawl arguably the Far North's most shameful sporting incident became fodder for news networks across the nation.
Even though he had served the entirety of the sentence, under AFL Victoria rules Mr Love had to apply to have his rights to coach reinstated.
The former North Melbourne player now lives in Victoria with his family and has no intention of returning to live in Cairns.
"That would be a long shot," he said. "We are pretty well set-up down here and I'm looking to continue my coaching down here."
Current AFL Cairns boss Gary Young wished Mr Love well with his return to the game but said old wounds had not quite healed in the Far North.
"If he wants to come up here and watch a game I'm sure he would be most welcome," Mr Young said.
"But the clubs are working on creating a proactive culture and there have been improvements.
"What he did back then I don't think it would sit well with them."
Eight years have passed and all of the punishments have now been served, but Port Douglas Crocs president Andy Smith believes the 2004 pre-game brawl is still a burning issue for those involved with the code.
"I don't think there's a club up here stupid enough to touch him (Love)" Mr Smith said yesterday. "He did a lot of damage and a lot of people remember what he did.
"Norths are just now getting over it."
Andy Viola, who was Crocs coach that afternoon, believes Mr Love should have received a lifetime ban.
"I have a lot of respect for Kane Richter and the guys at North Cairns at the moment, they are moving ahead in leaps and bounds," Mr Viola said.
"But it has taken the game a long time to recover from what happened that day.
"He put a stain on the game up here. I don't think he should be able to coach an AFL game again.
Last Modified on 15/01/2013 09:09