The AFL has vowed to impose lengthy bans on the men charged with bashing the father of Melbourne's Nathan Jones.

Three men, aged 19, 21 and 24, have been charged with affray over an incident which left Brad Jones, 46, with a broken nose, cracked ribs and bruising and swelling to the face after the Demons lost to Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday.

While his father is recovering and plans to return to watch Jones, the player said he was angered by the alleged assault.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou was also furious, and promised to ban the trio from attending games, and crack down on others who vented their anger through violence.

"Anyone who thinks that they can engage in that sort of activity, we will find them, we will identify them and they will not be allowed to attend our games," Demetriou said.

The three men are understood to be Collingwood fans, and the Magpies have confirmed they will also take action.

Collingwood are waiting for the trio's names to be released publicly to check if they are club members, and if so, will revoke their memberships.

Demetriou said the league planned to call on surveillance experts to ensure the men did not attend games.

"There will be no place for (those people) attending our football," he said.

"We will work with the venues if they seek entry, to deny entry, and then it's just a matter of for how long."

Demetriou said there was no room for anti-social behaviour given "our code is a game that's built on families attending".

Melbourne president Jim Stynes said the alleged clash occurred when Brad Jones stepped in to defend a Demons fan after banter with several Collingwood supporters became "heated".

Nathan Jones said the first he knew of the clash was when his younger brother Zak arrived at the Melbourne rooms escorted by two police officers.

"He was pretty distressed and upset, obviously, and shocked at what he saw," he said.

The 21-year-old midfielder, who quickly left the ground to visit his father in hospital, was also shocked.

"Obviously it's disappointing, I'm pretty angry, it's upsetting to see my dad in that way," he said.

"I never expected my old man to go to the footy and something like this to ever happen.

"It's pretty unfortunate, it should never happen at any sport, let alone AFL."

But Jones said it would not stop his family from attending future AFL games, and both Brad and Zak had bounced back well emotionally.

Stynes supported plans to ban the offenders, but said the AFL did not need to take any more drastic action to prevent further crowd violence in response to what seemed to be an isolated incident.

He called on all supporters to show grace in victory and humility in defeat.

The AFL's warning about crowd behaviour was felt on Monday in Adelaide, where a Crows fan who threw a soft-drink bottle and hit a young child at AAMI Stadium on Friday night had his membership suspended for the rest of the season.

The fan reportedly threw the bottle towards the umpires after St Kilda's win over the Crows.

South Australian National Football League (SANFL) executive commissioner Leigh Whicker said the penalty was totally appropriate and within AFL regulations, and sent a message to all supporters.

Whicker said the member had written to the SANFL to apologise, and was preparing to apologise to the child.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP