A former Canberra Raiders star was arrested by NSW Police following a pitch invasion during the NRL Grand Final between Penrith and Parramatta, as per the Sydney Morning Herald.

Mark McLinden, who played 165 NRL games for the Raiders, jumped the fence and ran onto the playing field during the second half of Sunday's game.

Though he never made it notably into the field of play, he was wearing a yellow shirt emblazoned with the words ‘End coal, gas and oil' on the front and ‘for our kids' on the back.

McLinden, who played in the halves, fullback and on the edges during his 165-game NRL career, was reportedly wearing footy boots for grip. He ran onto the southern end of the stadium and ripped the Telstra advertising from a pad on the goal post at that end.

He then reminded everyone of his pace and agility, getting around a number of security guards before trying to rip the Telstra signage from the other pad.

The 43-year-old then started to run down the field towards the game, but was caught on the 20m line and promptly escorted away.

“A 43-year-old man from Mullumbimby was arrested after he allegedly entered the playing field and dragged one of the pads from a goal post,” an NSW Police statement said.

“He has been issued with an infringement notice for ‘enter competition playing field'.”

That infringement carries a $5000 fine and a ban from attending matches.

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