Some of us shudder, but there are many who miss the days of landing on the couch, beer in hand and witnessing not just athletic freaks of nature, but some of the gnarliest, toughest men ever to lift their knuckles off the ground.

There will never be another John “Dallas” Donnelly, the Wests Magpies’ larrikin of the ’70s and ’80s who became edgy (epileptic fits and all) whenever he skipped his medication. Likewise, the mould was broken when Leigh Matthews – Hawthorn’s tough, ruthless and physically unparalleled brute of the late ’60s to the mid-’80s – entered the world. People went to the footy to see these guys hurt the same way petrol heads flock to speedways to watch the shrapnel-spreading demolition derby.

Today, it’s important to consider the legalities of delivering people what they paid for (chaotic violence at $40 a ticket) in the sphere of the law of the outside world. Many think law-enforcement stops at the turnstiles, with whatever happening on the field long-forgotten when that first stubby (or these days lolly snake) is consumed after the siren.

A stray head butt kicked pleasantries off all over again. (Image via YouTube)

But the law is everywhere, keeping an eye on everyone, whether they’re the star halfback landing a get-square for that earlier love tap, or some drunk fan ready to hurdle the fence and throttle the opposing full-forward because he hates his guts.

Even today, the jury is still out on whether everyone is convinced that this violent, punch-happy era disappeared for good. When the NRL last year banned punches forever a few seasons back, plenty of fans and players vented their frustration on social media and the various footy discussion panels, proclaiming the authorities were taking the “manliness” out of the game, and that “they’re trying to turn the game into netball”.

Really? If this is what netball is like, I’m getting tickets …

Dr Rex Mossop diagnosed Manly’s Mark Broadhurst with TWO black eyes ... (Image via YouTube)

(Originally published as “A History Of Violence” in Inside Sport magazine, October 2014).