AFL round 18: All the latest MRO news across the weekend of footy
Dustin Martin’s off-ball hit on Eagle Alex Witherden has come under the microscope from the MRO, with a young Hawk also learning his fate. Get the latest MRO news here.
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Richmond star Dustin Martin and Hawthorn young gun Jai Newcombe have escaped suspension for a pair of strikes to the stomach from Sunday’s Round 18 clashes.
Martin’s elbow to the chest of opponent Alex Witherden saw him fell the West Coast defender for several seconds.
Newcombe hit North Melbourne’s Harry Sheezel with a punch to the stomach in the Roos’ comprehensive loss to the Hawks.
Martin was handed a $3000 fine for a second offence, while Newcombe can accept a $2000 for a first offence.
Hits to the stomach or body have more leeway than high strikes to the head or neck under AFL guidelines.
An intentional, low impact strike with body contact is assessed as a fine under the match review table of offences.
Essendon’s Zach Merrett was handed a one-week suspension for a strike to the body of Carlton’s Jack Silvagni in 2020 but he was unlucky to cause damage to his opponent.
Silvagni suffered a fractured rib and bruised lung, so the league elevated the force to medium in the one-week suspension.
On Monday Merrett accepted his $1000 fine for staging against Geelong’s Mark O’Connor, with North Melbourne’s Tristan Xerri handed a fine for striking Hawthorn’ Conor Nash.
North Melbourne’s Tarryn Thomas can also accept a $2000 fine for striking Hawthorn’s Mitch Lewis.
Sydney has officially challenged Dane Rampe’s two-week suspension for a head clash that concussed Lachie McNeil on the basis that it was a genuine football accident.
He will front the tribunal on Tuesday in one of at least two cases, with Carlton’s Jordan Boyd referred to the tribunal for the dumping tackle which concussed Port Adelaide’s Darcy Byrne-Jones.
Sydney co-captain Rampe was suspended on Friday for the careless high-impact hit, which would rule him out of clashes against Fremantle (Optus Stadium) and Essendon (Marvel Stadium).
Merrett fined for staging, does Dusty have case to answer?
Essendon captain Zach Merrett has been hit with footy’s most embarrassing penalty after being booked for staging in the Bombers’ loss to Geelong on Saturday night.
And Richmond star Dustin Martin and Hawthorn young gun Jai Newcombe can expect to be fined by the match review panel for a pair of strikes to the stomach from Sunday’s clashes. But the lack of damage caused in their respective strikes will likely see them dodge suspensions for the clash between Richmond and Hawthorn this week.
Merrett was fined $1500 for collapsing to the ground after receiving a slight touch in the back from Cat Mark O’Connor, at a stoppage in the first term.
Merrett milked a free kick in the incident, but the AFL took a strong stance on Merrett’s antics and fined him for exaggerating the contact.
The AFL has been urged to act on staging after St Kilda’s Max King and Western Bulldog Cody Weightman attracted attention for alleged flopping earlier this season.
And Carlton’s Jordan Boyd could miss the Blues’ next three matches after he was referred straight to the tribunal for his dangerous tackle in the win over Port Adelaide.
Boyd concussed Darcy Byrne-Jones in an incident, which was on Sunday graded as careless conduct, high contact and severe impact.
Byrne-Jones will miss the top-of-the-table clash against Collingwood on Saturday night due to concussion protocols, while Boyd will be sidelined for clashes against West Coast, Collingwood and St Kilda.
Merrett’s fine can be downgraded to $1000 with an early guilty plea.
Martin’s elbow to the chest of opponent Alex Witherden felled the West Coast defender for several seconds.
Newcombe hit North Melbourne’s Harry Sheezel with a punch to the stomach in the Roos’ comprehensive loss to the Hawks.
But hits to the stomach or body have more leeway than high strikes to the head or neck under AFL guidelines.
An intentional, low impact strike with body contact is assessed as a fine under the match review table of offences.
So Martin and Newcombe would expect to be available this week.
A low-impact intentional strike to the head is a week’s suspension, so the nature of their strikes mean they will likely dodge suspension.
Essendon’s Zach Merrett was handed a one-week suspension for a strike to the body of Carlton’s Jack Silvagni in 2020 but he was unlucky to cause damage to his opponent.
Silvagni suffered a fractured rib and bruised lung, so the league elevated the force to medium in the one-week suspension.
Sydney has officially challenged Dane Rampe’s two-week suspension for a head clash that concussed Lachie McNeil on the basis that it was a genuine football accident.
He will front the tribunal on Tuesday in one of at least two cases, with Carlton’s Jordan Boyd referred to the tribunal for the dumping tackle which concussed Port Adelaide’s Darcy Byrne-Jones.
Sydney co-captain Rampe was suspended on Friday for the careless high-impact hit, which would rule him out of clashes against Fremantle (Optus Stadium) and Essendon (Marvel Stadium).
McNeil played out the game after the pair clashed heads as Rampe ran across to the Bulldogs utility to check his run.
Then he reported delayed concussion after the loss and is in the concussion protocol.
The Swans might wonder whether it was the Rampe collision only that caused the delayed concussion rather than any other hit across the game.
But their tribunal case is instead likely to centre on the fact Rampe was in the middle of a legal football act in attempting to check McNeil’s run before his opponent turned his head at the last minute.
Rampe did not hit McNeil with a shoulder-to-head bump, with the damage caused by a head clash.
Here is the Merrett staging incident. $1000 fine. O’Connor makes minor contact to Merrett’s back. He wins the free kick after slumping to the ground. Swans will challenge the Rampe ban on the basis it was a footy accident with McNeil turning his head at the last minute @FOXFOOTYpic.twitter.com/kJeQYNoHou
— Jon Ralph (@RalphyHeraldSun) July 16, 2023
The incident was assessed as careless, which means the match review panel did not assess it as a behind-the-play intentional incident.
McNeil and Rampe were running across the ground at half-forward following the play and Rampe clearly initiated contact.
So the AFL tribunal is free to decide that Rampe’s decision makes him responsible for any head-high contact, accidental or not.
Sydney will be desperate to have Rampe available as it makes a late finals dash, with fellow defender Lewis Melican likely to miss the Dockers clash with a hamstring injury.
Meanwhile, exciting Adelaide forward Josh Rachele has been offered a two-match suspension for striking GWS defender Jack Buckley.
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Originally published as AFL round 18: All the latest MRO news across the weekend of footy
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