Bolton flies high to take mark of the year contender before breaking wrist in nightclub fight

Katanning’s Shai Bolton rode the highs and lows of an AFL career in a matter of hours at the weekend. Bolton took a mark of the year contender on Friday night at the MCG that will be talked about for decades to come. However, just a day later Bolton was involved in a nightclub fight along with premiership teammate Daniel Rioli. Bolton kicked 3.1 from 21 possessions along with his spectacular mark in the goal square over Geelong’s Mark Blicavs in the Tigers’ 63-point loss, but his weekend went south from there. Rioli was punched in the face and Bolton broke his wrist in a nightclub fight on Saturday night. Bolton, 22, is expected to be sidelined for several weeks after the confrontation at Melbourne’s Club YoYo. Neither is expected to be sanctioned by the club. As the back-to-back premiers’ season teeters on the brink, following a thrashing at the hands of the Cats, a group of Tigers hit the town on Saturday night to celebrate Katanning product Bolton’s girlfriend’s birthday. It was during the night that a man unknown to the players allegedly verbally abused and touched Rioli’s girlfriend, TikTok star Paris Lawrence. Fremantle-born Rioli, 24, reacted by confronting the man and was hit in the face, causing a cut under his eye that needed two stitches. Bolton, the son of former Fremantle player Darren Bolton and the nephew of Sandover medallist Allistair Pickett, stepped in to back up Rioli and broke his wrist in the altercation. Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said the club would support both players. “I can understand the fixation on our players, but I suppose from our point of view a player’s partner was put in an inappropriate situation that she didn’t feel comfortable with,” Hardwick said on Fox Footy’s AFL360. “Daniel stood up and tried to eradicate the situation and was punched in the eye. “I don’t condone violence, but the reality is if you put anyone in that situation ... they’re going to stand up for their partner and their mates, and Shai was the same.” The Tigers coach said Bolton’s broken wrist occurred “just in the fracas” but he was unaware specifically how that happened. The injury will require surgery and should sideline Bolton for up to three weeks.