Kysaiah Pickett, Lance Franklin suspended for round 1 bumps
Kysaiah Pickett’s hit on Bailey Smith has the footy world once again debating over the value of the bump, with one superstar Magpie calling for a sin bin during games.
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Top players have called for a “sin bin” and more weight to be given to action rather than impact when it comes to head-high bumps.
Former Collingwood skipper Scott Pendlebury backed in a time-out for players that enact “non-football actions” in the wake of Melbourne livewire Kysaiah Pickett’s two-match ban for a late and high hit on Bulldogs playmaker Bailey Smith.
Sydney star Lance Franklin was also rubbed out for one game for his bump on Suns defender Sam Collins.
The bans come after two class actions have been launched against the AFL in recent weeks relating to concussion issues suffered by current and former players.
Pendlebury said with such acts, “your intention is to hurt” and said sending players off the ground should be considered.
“For years, there’s been the question are we going to punish the outcome, or the action? Where do we live? We still live in punishing the outcome,” the Magpies star said.
“I don’t agree with that. I think it should be the action that gets punished.
“It’s not a football action. I think it’s something that we need to get rid of out of our game, but this chat’s been going for five or six years.
“Watching the NRL, if there’s stuff like that that happens, they get sin-binned, and I don’t mind that for our game. Say, if Pickett was to get sin-binned so it’s a complete disadvantage (to Melbourne) and now you play 17 v 18 for 10 minutes or 15 minutes … those non-football actions, I think we really need to treat seriously and get out of our game.”
Pendlebury said that Franklin’s suspension was a sign of some change.
“Ten years ago, Buddy wouldn’t even get looked at for that,” he said on Triple M.
“And now that’s a week, because we’re so keen to protect the head. I think we’ve got to take that approach to everything.”
Essendon defender Jake Kelly – who has suffered a number of significant concussions in his career, said players had to maintain their duty of care to one another.
“When you can corral a player or you can choose to tackle a player, the decision to bump a player, whether it be head high or just below the head, I think that’s careless and it lacks a duty of care to a person,” Kelly said on RSN.
“As someone who has had a fair few concussions, it really does worry me and especially given the last few weeks with everyone coming out and the lawsuits that are coming out. I think players do have a duty of care and I think it’s really important that they understand that.”
The 28-year-old said it “doesn’t make sense to me that you would choose to bump” given the “trauma” that can follow.
“One, for the fact that you’ll get rubbed out and miss games,” he said.
“And two, for the fact that the person on the other end of it … it’s difficult, because it does give you a bit of trauma. As someone who has been hit and knocked out cold, it gives you trauma.
“And it’s not a nice feeling. Especially for your family watching, as well. It’s not nice. Given what’s happened in the last two weeks with all these lawsuits and people coming out globally … who have been affected long term (by concussion), I just think that we as players should be mindful of it.”
Port Adelaide midfielder Ollie Wines said the prospect of causing a concussion was “in the back of my mind” when making decisions on-field and maintained there should be “more weight on the action” rather than the outcome of such acts.
Melbourne accepted Pickett’s ban on Monday, conceding the potential for the action to have had far more serious consequences.
“Kozzy is a high-pressure player, who puts his body on the line and plays with speed and intensity, and unfortunately in this instance his action had the potential to cause injury,” Demons football boss Alan Richardson said.
“Kozzy’s immediate concern was for his opponent Bailey, who thankfully was uninjured and played out the remainder of the game.”
PICKETT BANNED FOR BRUTAL HIT, BUDDY RUBBED OUT
- Jay Clark and Jon Ralph
Melbourne excitement machine Kysaiah Pickett will be missing from the club’s next two matches, against Brisbane Lions and Sydney, unless the Demons successfull challenges his two-match ban.
The league on Sunday handed down the suspension for his dangerous bump which flattened Western Bulldog Bailey Smith on Saturday night, using a little-known clause to upgrade the severity of the punishment.
Smith did not suffer an injury in the incident and bounced quickly up to his feet, but match review officer Michael Christian graded the hit as high impact due to the “potential to cause serious injury” clause.
Ordinarily, bumps which do not cause serious injury are graded as low or medium, but the dangerous nature of Pickett’s bump meant Christian used the clause to upgrade the impact to high, resulting in a two-match ban.
The velocity, force and speed of Pickett’s bump to Smith’s head were key factors as well as the visual look of the hit, considering the AFL’s desire to help protect players’ heads.
Concussion is the biggest issue in the game according to its superstar players, who were surveyed last week on captain’s day, with two class actions potentially involving hundreds of players set to seek compensation from the game over head knocks.
Melbourne can challenge the Pickett verdict at the tribunal in a bid to downgrade the punishment from two matches to one match on the basis the impact was less than high as Smith was uninjured.
It was also graded as careless conduct and high contact, as expected.
The Demons will have more talks about a possible challenge on Monday.
But the club may also consider Pickett fortunate he did not do more damage to Smith’s head considering how Pickett launched at Smith and made contact to his head, knocking the Bulldog to the turf with a spearing bump.
“He (Pickett) is a lucky boy to only get two weeks, I think,” St Kilda great Leigh Montagna said on Triple M on Sunday.
“He is lucky he didn’t knock him out, because if he did knock him out he would be looking at five weeks.”
In the tribunal handbook, it says “the MRO may consider the potential to cause serious injury to upgrade impact from negligible to a higher level of impact”.
The suspension is a huge blow for the Demons as Pickett is one of the most exciting players in the game, and was introduced into the midfield with great effect on Saturday night as the Demons easily rolled Western Bulldogs in round 1.
But there are reinforcements coming for the Demons as Christian Salem (thyroid), Jack Viney (knee), Steven May (calf) and Bayley Fritsch (foot) are expected to be available for their clash against the Lions on Friday night at the Gabba.
Meanwhile, Sydney star Lance Franklin will miss what could be his final chance to play former side Hawthorn after being handed a one-week ban for a hit on Gold Coast defender Sam Collins.
Franklin was in sparkling early form as he kicked the first two goals of the game but clipped Collins high in an incident late in the victory over the Suns.
The ball was in the vicinity, but rather than reach down to pick it up, he made contact with his shoulder to Collins’ jaw.
The match review panel assessed the hit as medium force, careless and to Collins’ head.
Collins left the ground for a head injury assessment and, while the game finished before he returned to the ground, he was cleared of concussion.
But the degree of force meant Franklin was always likely to miss against the club that he helped to the 2008 and 2013 premierships.
Sydney coach John Longmire was not asked about the hit post-match, but said he was thrilled with Franklin’s early start and his side’s balance of structure, pressure and hardness at the ball.
“The players were on top of their game, really sharp mentally as well as hard physically and that balance was there to see and got us off to a really good start,” he said.
The AFL is viewing head-high hits through the prism of recent law suits but must still comply with the match review table of offences.
The league has the right to elevate the force given the capacity to cause serious injury, with Franklin overzealous in his attack on the man.
Coach flags ‘concern’ after star’s brutal bump
– Russell Gould
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin conceded there was “concern” over the second-quarter bump which could land Kysaiah Pickett in trouble but is happy for the livewire to play on the edge.
But Demons’ captain Max Gawn said the bump on Western Bulldogs midfielder Bailey Smith “changed the game” in his team’s mammoth 50-point win at the MCG.
Pickett, who kicked four goals, could land a week’s suspension pending the grading of the impact of the collision in which the Melbourne livewire left his feet, but after which Smith got straight back up.
Goodwin said he didn’t feel the need to talk to Pickett about the action, declaring he played with the sort of energy which made him such an impactful player.
Kysaiah Pickett was placed on report midway through the second quarter for this incident.#AFLDeesDogspic.twitter.com/wzzMINxvHw
— AFL (@AFL) March 18, 2023
“I think there’s always concerns but you know, thankfully Smith played on and we just have to go through that process and see what takes place,” Goodwin said.
“I think you could see straight after he checked and stopped straight away and to Bailey Smith’s credit he got up and gave Koz a tap as well.
“I won’t be talking to him about that. He plays the game on the edge, on the line, he commits his body for tackling, for all a whole range of things, he’s a high quality pressure forward.”
While Gawn wasn’t sure if the collision, after which Smith got straight back to his feet, was “good or bad” he said the energy the livewire Pickett injected at that moment, as his team tried to gain the upper hand, was crucial.
Pickett had the first centre clearance of the game too as he was unveiled in a new midfield role and Gawn said his combination with midfield stars Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver, who had 17 clearances between them, could give the Demons a whole new dynamic in 2023.
“Trac (Petracca) and Clarry (Oliver) and going to bring what Trac and Clarry bring but I was more impressed with Kozzie (Pickett) to be honest,” Gawn told Channel 7 after the game.
“Kozzie and Alex Neale-Bullen, I think they changed the game for us in the second quarter.
“I’m not sure about Kozzie’s hit, whether it was good or bad, but the momentum swing from that was unbelievable and the energy he brings, I love having him in the midfield.
“The forward line like having him there too. It’s going to be a nice little debate about where he plays.”
While Pickett could miss a week the Demons are likely to get forward Bailey Fritsch back for Friday’s clash with the Brisbane Lions.
Moment of madness sours thumping Dees triumph
A moment of madness from Melbourne livewire Kysaiah Pickett could have a costly outcome in an otherwise brilliant season-opening win as the Demons lived up to their pre-season hype.
Pickett, who was electric all night with four goals in a commanding 50-point win over the Western Bulldogs in the 3000th match at the MCG, was reported for a second quarter hit on Bailey Smith which is likely to land him in hot water.
After leaving his feet and hitting an unprotected Smith with his shoulder, Pickett’s immediate playing future lies in the hands of the match review panel and he could find himself missing next week’s clash with Brisbane from the sidelines.
His matchday report was the only lowlight for the Demons however who put on a five-goal burst in the second quarter to open a gap the new-look Bulldogs couldn’t bridge as Melbourne superstar Christian Petracca put on a clinic.
Constant bursts from the middle came as Melbourne’s new ruck tag team of skipper Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy provided silver service from quarter-time onwards, as the Demons turned an 11-point deficit into a 19-point halftime lead.
From that point the margin was never closer than 14 points as Melbourne proved impenetrable down back and controlled a contest which was put to bed when sub Jake Melksham booted the opening goal of the fourth-term to give his team a 33-point buffer.
While Petracca and fellow midfield machine Clayton Oliver constantly drove their team forward Marcus Bontempelli had little help for the Bulldogs who got little return from their much-vaunted forward line arguably full of too much tall timber.
The Bulldogs couldn’t muster a single multiple goal-kicker while up the other end Ben Brown, minus his trademark mop of wild hair, made a positive start to his season also bagging four majors as Melbourne flexed its muscle.
Stopping Brown and his fellow Demons from scoring was made harder for the Dogs when Liam Jones return to the AFL ended before halftime when he was sent to hospital to scans on a suspected neck injury after a mid-air collision.
GAWNDY GOES OK
It was only one game but the impact of Gawn and Grundy has to send a shudder through any opposition teams looking to run just a single ruckman against the Demons.
While Bulldogs big man Tim English battled valiantly, he had little help in stopping the impact of his two opponents who not only worked him over in the ruck but did damage up forward too.
Gawn kicked two goals and Grundy one, they also combined for 38 disposals and the duo’s hitout dominance, with 31, and a 15-8 win in centre clearances, was too much for the Bulldogs to handle.”
ASTRO- NAUGHT
There were supposed to be three or even four big Bulldogs taking big grabs up forward as part of coach Luke Beveridge’s new attacking plan but only Aaron Naughton proved a trustworthy target.
He was a constant presence, and a threat for the Melbourne defence, but while his marking met expectations his goalkicking didn’t, with two crucial misses while Jamarra Ugle-Hagan also kicked 1.3 with limited impact in an unproductive first AFL outing for the new-look forward line.
“The combination with that forward line hasn’t worked,” former Essendon captain Jobe Watson said in commentary.
Astro-Naught takes flight for the first time in 2023 🚀#AFLDeesDogspic.twitter.com/63qTWxlInO
— AFL (@AFL) March 18, 2023
NO MAY’S OK
Premiership defender Steven May will walk straight back into the Melbourne line-up when his calf injury has healed but Adam Tomlinson’s efforts as his replacement showed just how deep the Demon’s defensive stocks go.
Given the job of stopping Bulldogs’ recruit Rory Lobb, with the help of a few teammates, Tomlinson played the May role with the sort of effect Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin could have only hoped for.
For his part Lobb, who moved to the Dogs’ from Fremantle to be part of that tall timber forward line, was hardly sighted in his debut in red, white and blue.
SCOREBOARD
Melbourne 3.3 9.4 13.8 17.13 (115)
Western Bulldogs 2.4 5.9 8.10 9.11 (65)
BEST
Melbourne: Petracca, Gawn, Pickett, Lever, Oliver, Sparrow
Western Bulldogs: Bontempelli, English, Liberatore, Treloar, Macrae
GOALS
Melbourne: Pickett 4, Brown 4, Spargo 2, Gawn 2, Sparrow, Chandler, Grundy, Neale-Bullen
Western Bulldogs: Bontempelli, Ugle-Hagan, Williams, Naughton, Johannissen, Baker, Macrae, Treloar, Liberatore
Injuries
Melbourne: Nil
Western Bulldogs: Jones (neck)
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