The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has said the state’s machete ban is working, despite reports of a brawl on Saturday night in Melbourne’s north and the discovery of a teenager with serious injuries nearby.

Police were called to respond to a large group of males, aged in their late teens, fighting with machetes on Saturday evening, Det Sgt Matthew Feben told reporters on Sunday morning.

Feben said a group of more than 1,000 people were leaving the area after a community rugby event when a brawl broke out.

“It was quite heavily populated, the area, at the time,” he said.

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They found a 19-year-old male with serious stab wounds in his torso. He has been uncooperative with investigators, Feben said, and was in a stable condition in hospital on Sunday mor

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