AFL MRO news: Paul Curtis escapes ban for kick on Liam Jones, Matthew Cottrell cops ban
There has been yet another suspension handed out by the MRO after a pair of incidents were assessed from the weekend’s footy. See the latest here.
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North Melbourne’s Paul Curtis has avoided a suspension for the accidental kick that broke Liam Jones’ arm after opponent Alex Keath pushed him off balance
Jones will miss at least five weeks and potentially more with a broken forearm suffered after Curtis’ errant kick instead struck him as he attempted to gather the ball.
It was another nightmarish development for Luke Beveridge’s backline, with Jones the club’s mainstay as his coach shuffles the magnets around him.
He will have surgery in the next 24 hours but the Dogs do not expect him to return before August, with the Western Bulldogs taking on Fremantle after the bye.
Tim O’Brien suffered a hamstring injury in the win over North Melbourne, while running defender Hayden Crozier also suffered a hamstring injury playing VFL.
On a weekend when wingman Roarke Smith also succumbed to plantar fascia in the VFL it was another blow to the club’s plans for a long and deep September run.
Curtis would have needed to be found guilty of a reportable offence to be liable for Jones’ nasty injury.
While he clearly kicked Jones, he was also pushed by Dogs defender Keath as he attempted to clear the ball off the ground.
The tribunal found last week that James Sicily was still responsible for the tackle that concussed Hugh McCluggage despite teammate Tyler Brockman being involved.
But the MRO found Keath’s intervention had a direct bearing on Curtis’ actions.
Carlton utility Matthew Cottrell has been suspended for a dumping tackle on Gold Coast defender Ben Long.
Long had possession of the ball late in Carlton’s victory over the Suns and ducked his head to try to avoid a tackle from the Blues player.
Cottrell dragged Long forward while his head was down and ensured he made contact with the MCG turf.
A medium-impact rough conduct charge saw Cottrell missing the clash against Hawthorn on Sunday.
The league has consistently put the onus on players to avoid incidents where a player puts his opponent in a vulnerable position and dumps or drives them into the ground.
DANGEROUS TACKLE CRACKDOWN CLAIMS LATEST VICTIM
GWS Giant Lachie Whitfield will miss the clash against Melbourne in a fortnight after he became the latest player to be suspended for a dangerous tackle.
Whitfield received a one-match ban on Sunday night for dumping Docker Jordan Clark into the turf in the Giants’ win on Saturday afternoon.
But there was good news for St Kilda defender Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, who escaped with a $2000 fine for his high strike on Richmond’s Daniel Rioli.
Wanganeen-Milera caught Rioli high with an elbow on Saturday night but the incident was graded low impact, so the jet defender will be available to play Brisbane Lions on Friday night at Marvel Stadium.
Clark, whose arm was pinned in the Whitfield tackle, got back to his feet and played on.
But the tackle was graded careless conduct, high contact and medium impact, in-line with recent dangerous tackle suspensions this year.
The incident will continue the fierce debate around dangerous tackles this season amid an AFL crackdown on head contact and brain injuries amid the concussion crisis.
The Giants have the bye this weekend and will play the Demons the following week.
is Lachie Whitfield in trouble for this tackle? 🤔
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No ban for Berry despite dangerous tackle report
Brisbane’s Jarrod Berry has been cleared to play in Friday night’s clash with St Kilda after being cleared of a dangerous tackle report.
But Sydney’s Sam Wicks has been banned for two games for striking Lion Ryan Lester in Friday night’s Gabba clash.
As the debate surrounding dangerous tackles reached fever pitch, match review officer Michael Christian deemed that Berry had “discharged his duty of care” in the tackle and threw out the match report day.
In a statement released on Saturday, the MRO said Berry’s actions were “not unreasonable in the circumstances.”
It’s a relief for the Lions who face a big clash with the Saints, but also for those footy fans who have been divided on the AFL’s crackdown on dangerous tackles.
Crucially Berry released Hayward’s arms before he was brought to ground. Hayward jumped back to his feet and played on.
But Wicks will miss games against West Coast and Geelong after Christian graded his strike as careless conduct, high impact and high contact.
Mansell fails in bid to get three-match ban overturned
– Lachlan McKirdy
Richmond forward Rhyan Mansell has been unsuccessful in the appeal of his three-match ban for rough conduct on Fremantle’s James Aish.
In a contest for the ball during the fourth quarter, Mansell turned his body to brace for contact and made contact with Aish’s head.
The initial charge was rough conduct categorised as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact – with a three-match ban handed down.
That suspension will stand and Mansell will miss matches against St Kilda, Brisbane and Sydney over the next month. While Dockers coach Justin Longmuir confirmed earlier this week that Aish could miss more than two weeks due to his history of concussions.
Richmond’s counsel Dermot Dann presented four grounds for appeal, focusing on whether Mansell was doing no more than protecting himself, and that a player protecting himself cannot be involved in a bump.
He further argued that Mansell was making a reasonable contest for the ball and that if the decision is upheld it would be “highly troubling” for how players are allowed to protect themselves in a contest.
In doing so, Dann argued that Mansell’s contact with Aish was a reasonable action because he had a split-second to react and believed that trying to make a proper tackle at that time would have created a more dangerous situation for both players.
“[The Tribunal] failed to consider the question that arose in this case that whether a player that does no more than take reasonable action to protect themselves and brace for an unavoidable collision, can be involved in the bumping of another player,” said Dann.
After almost an hour of Dann presenting Mansell’s grounds for appeal, chair of the Appeal Board Murray Kellam requested a two-minute break, before he could be heard asking in the background, ‘Have you got the oven on?’.
The AFL’s representative Lisa Hannon argued that the tribunal did not err in its decision on Tuesday night as it had all the available evidence and footage to make the proper decision. That decision was that Mansell turned and lifted his arm, before making contact with Aish.
She also argued that it should not matter if the contact was a defensive one, bracing for contact, or an offensive one, the contact should still constitute the bumping of an opponent.
Following 45 minutes of deliberation, the Appeal Board returned with Kellam confirming that the Tribunal’s initial finding would be upheld.
He said that the Board was satisfied by the process the Tribunal undertook to reach the initial finding, and had not erred in their application of the law when coming to a decision, dismissing each of the four grounds for appeal.
Originally published as AFL MRO news: Paul Curtis escapes ban for kick on Liam Jones, Matthew Cottrell cops ban
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