AFL Round 12 West Coast v Collingwood: Jordan De Goey facing ban for bump on Elijah Hewett, Pies hit with fresh injuries
Collingwood coach Craig McRae has spoken about a brutal Jordan De Goey bump that is certain to land the Magpie star in MRO hot water. See it here and have your say.
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Star Collingwood midfielder Jordan De Goey seems almost certain to miss the Round 13 King’s Birthday clash with Melbourne, at least, due to suspension.
De Goey laid a high bump on West Coast youngster Elijah Hewett late in the first quarter of the Magpies 63-point win over West Coast in Perth on Saturday.
Hewett took no further part in the game, ruled out with concussion, leaving De Goey’s Brownlow Medal chances on thin ice as well.
Coach Craig McRae defended his star, saying the decision-making of a player in some circumstances was difficult to train.
“It’s split seconds, isn’t it?” McRae said
“Do I go in and tackle, do I bump, or smother? These happen so many times in a game.
“In terms of what we’re trying to do with the tackling, the game has changed, so the way we tackle we’re getting to work on.
“We’re trying to roll with the player less than grab an arm and then dump.
“These split-second decisions that you make, whether you bump or smother, they have to make them out there. It’s hard to practice for those.
“I hope the young lad’s OK. That’s where our concern goes to.”
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De Goey cannoned into Hewett after he had handballed the ball, his shoulder appearing to make contact with the Eagles chin, or cheek.
The fact that Hewett took no further part in the game means De Goey’s bump could be classified as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact.
If the match review officer grades the incident that way, it could result in a three-game-plus ban, which would automatically be referred to the AFL tribunal.
In the immediate aftermath, Fox Footy’s Garry Lyon said a suspension appeared “cut and dry.”
“We are not going hunting for a name or a scalp here, but if you elect to bump and make high contact … that’s trouble for Jordan De Goey,” Lyon said.
“We are not saying he tried to knock him senseless, but when you decide to bump and make contact above the shoulders … (you are in trouble) … the AFL has been as clear as they possibly can on that.”
The incident sparked an angry response from a few of Hewett’s teammates after quarter-time, with the incident likely to be one of the footy talking points of the week.
De Goey is having an outstanding season and was coming off another best-afield performance against North Melbourne last week, elevating into Brownlow Medal calculations along with his teammate Nick Daicos.
The top-of-the-table Magpies have some big games ahead of them, with clashes with Melbourne, Adelaide, Gold Coast and the Western Bulldogs to come across the next five weeks, split by a round 14 bye.
Yeeesh. That’s a really bad one from De Goey. No place for that in the game anymore. #AFLpic.twitter.com/m0S1xrAH1w
— Mark Gottlieb (@MarkGottlieb) June 3, 2023
Meanwhile, West Coast could be missing another player for next week with Liam Duggan also in trouble for a dangerous tackle on Magpie Taylor Adams.
Play had stopped when Duggan strangely pounded Adams into the ground in the second term.
The incident could be graded careless conduct, high contact and medium impact, triggering a one-match ban for the playmaker.
It means Duggan will join the long list of West Coast players on the sidelines as the club deals with a crippling injury list.
Injury, De Goey hit sours Pies’ win in brutal clash
- Brad Elborough
Craig McRae has said before that any team wanting to beat Collingwood needs to be prepared to play for a full 120 minutes.
The Magpies knocked up their eighth consecutive win on Saturday, beating West Coast by 63 points at Optus Stadium.
The top side was challenged by the undermanned, bottom-ranked Eagles, who lost more players to injury early in the game.
Fatigue then him them late and Collingwood pounced.
The Pies kicked the last eight goals to win 18.12 (120) to 8.9 (57).
McRae said his side would benefit from the challenge laid down to them in Perth.
“We’re really pleased with the performance,” he said.
“We come here thinking we’re gonna get West Coast’s best version of themselves. We always planned for that.
“We’ve watched a lot of their footy in preparation to play and the crowd had energy, which is good for us because you got to come up against them when you’re away from home and they had a real spirit and will to win.
“We just want to play the minutes and we say that every game and to date not many have been able to do that for 120 minutes against us.”
The Magpies led by 43 points early in the second term after kicking the first seven goals of the game.
However, despite being reduced to two fit players on the bench by quarter-time, the Eagles managed to steal momentum late in the second term. When Noah Long kicked a goal late in the third, the margin was reduced to just 14 points.
More concerns for Pies
The Pies were challenged to gain produce their best. But before that came, they showed some of their worst, with two free kicks given away off the ball and Jordan De Goey likely to be sidelined after he laid a crude bump on young Eagle, Elijah Hewett.
A repeat of the 2022 anomaly, when the Pies lost to the struggling Eagles to win the first of only two games for the season, was on the cards.
But the class and fitness of Nick Daicos (30 and three goals) and Tom Mitchell got them over the line.
Bobby Hill also returned to some good form, kicking three goals.
Collingwood finished the game with some personnel concerns of their own though – other than De Goey – a week after losing Steele Sidebottom with a knee injury.
Beau McCreery limped off with a foot injury early in the second term and he was joined by Will Hoskin-Elliott, with an ankle injury, early in the last.
Find Allen some help
The Eagles trailed by 26 points at halftime, despite having been forward nine times more than the Magpies.
Elliot Yeo, Dom Sheed, who had 43 possessions in his 150th game, and Tim Kelly dominated clearances.
Oscar Allen did his best in attack, but clearly needs some help.
The Eagles skipper booted two goals in an impressive second term on Billy Frampton, who had kept him away from the ball in the first term.
He finished with three goals and now has 32 goals for the season.
Coach Adam Simpson said the forward line is clearly lacking experience.
“We’ve had 26 to choose from pretty much for eight weeks. And we’re missing our good players,” he said.
“Our front half has probably been really decimated with Liam Ryan, Jamie Cripps, Jack Darling and Samo Petrevski-Seton.
“We’ve sort of had three or four mids playing there today, so that’s been a challenge for Oscar.”
The Eagles skipper booted two goals in an impressive second term on Billy Frampton, who had kept him away from the ball in the first term.
Allen finished with three goals and now has 32 goals for the season.
The Eagles will jump up the ladder quickly once they find him some help.
Eagles carnage continues
The loss to Collingwood stretched the Eagles losing streak this season to a new club-high 10 games.
They thought they’d hit rock bottom with injuries, but they may not be through the worst just yet.
West Coast swung a late change with key defender Tom Barrass lost before the game with a hip injury.
Connor West was given the tough job of following Nick Daicos, but was subbed out of the game after just nine minutes with a knee injury.
Hewett was sat alongside him before the quarter-time time break after the bump from De Goey and later failed a concussion test.
Veteran Shannon Hurn had ice strapped to a hamstring inside the first minute of the second quarter.
Scoreboard
EAGLES 0.3 4.3 8.7 8.9 (57)
MAGPIES 4.3 8.5 12.9 18.12 (120)
BEST
Eagles - Sheed, Kelly, Duggan, Yeo, Allen, Williams.
Magpies - N Daicos, Mitchell, J Daicos, B Hill, N Murphy, Moore.
GOALS
Eagles - Allen 3; Sheed, O’Neill, Long, Kelly, Clark.
Magpies - Hill 3, Johnson 3, N Daicos 3, Mihocek 3; Cox 2; Mitchell, Harrison, Crisp, Adams.
VOTES
3 N Daicos (MAGPIES)
2 T Mitchell (MAGPIES)
1 D Sheed (EAGLES)
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Originally published as AFL Round 12 West Coast v Collingwood: Jordan De Goey facing ban for bump on Elijah Hewett, Pies hit with fresh injuries
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