Portland player Nathan Wait handed 10-game ban for off-ball punch against Mitcham

An Adelaide Footy League player has copped a massive suspension for a vile punch away from the play last weekend, only just escaping deregistration from the competition.

An Adelaide Footy League player has been handed a massive ban for an off-ball punch over the weekend after a Wednesday night tribunal hearing.

A 10-game suspension has been handed down to a Portland’s Nathan Wait after he landed a vile punch on a Mitcham opponent away from the play during a division four A Grade game on Saturday.

Wait was not reported by umpires on the day but was sent to tribunal after the league became aware of the hit through video footage.

With only six games remaining for Portland this year, he has had his season ended and will serve four weeks to begin next season.

Wait - who will serve the first suspension in his 283-game career - has also just escaped deregistration from the competition, with a 12-game suspension limit in place across all Adelaide Footy League divisions.

A Portland player has been handed a 10-game ban after a king hit to a Mitcham opponent on Saturday.

“The tribunal has delivered its verdicts and while independent, they are largely in line with the league’s and by extension neutral-minded clubs’ expectations,” Adelaide Footy League chief John Kernahan said.

“Our position is this and whether offending players like it or not, at least we’re consistent – we have a duty of care to players and volunteers who play the game in the spirit it is intended.

“Our priority to them is exponentially greater than it is to a player who uses the green space of a footy oval as a means to behave in a manner more akin to sports associated with being played inside a rope like boxing or a cage like MMA.”

The 10-game ban is the biggest handed to an Adelaide Footy League player since Brayden Bennett was given a 10-game suspension for a punch which broke an opponent’s jaw while playing for Mawson Lakes in 2019.

Adelaide Footy League chief John Kernahan has warned member clubs over dirty play. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

Kernahan said the penalty should serve as a reminder to the rest of the league’s clubs and players that similar behaviour would not be tolerated.

“While the league is satisfied with the outcomes, it would behove all club presidents and coaches to reiterate to their players that while those penalties haven’t been seen for a while in our league, our attention to them has not faded in that time.

“Simply put, we’re not having it.”

Both the Portland Football Club and Mitcham Football Club were contacted for this story.