Port Adelaide news: Miles Bergman contract talks, Junior Rioli suspension

One of Port Adelaide’s top young stars has put contract talks on hold as Victorian clubs try to lure him home. Find out why here.

Junior Rioli (right) and Trent McKenzie pressure Sam Weideman.

Port Adelaide youngster Miles Bergman is focusing on his football, rather than his contract talks, as he puts off a decision of his future until later on the season.

Bergman is without a deal beyond this season and in career-best form, ensuring interest from rival clubs in his home state of Victoria.

The 21-year-old said he was enjoying his time at the Power and his call would boil down to “what feels right”.

“At the moment, I’m not focused on that (contract discussions), that’ll happen later in the year,” said Bergman, whom Port Adelaide drafted with its first pick, No. 14, in 2019.

“The club and I have talked about it and we said we’re both comfortable just to wait because we’re really enjoying the way we’re playing at the moment.

“We’ll get to the decision when it comes.

“I’m loving the club and just want to play some good footy.”

Bergman said he had felt more settled at Alberton after really struggling with homesickness during his first few years at the club.

“Every year I’ve felt more comfortable and more confident in myself, and get along with the boys better and am really close with the coaches,” he said.

Miles Bergman is set to delay contract talks.

POWER STAR’S BAN REDUCED FOR OFF-THE-BALL BLOW

Glenn McFarlane

Port Adelaide small forward Junior Rioli will miss the next two matches after his counsel was able to successfully argue a downgrade from severe to high impact his contact on Essendon’s Jordan Ridley in last week’s block-gone-wrong incident.

Rioli will miss games against North Melbourne and Melbourne after the tribunal changed the impact classification of the match review officer.

The AFL counsel had called for a three-week penalty, and while the two week ban is still a blow for Port Adelaide and Rioli, the downgrade at least sees him return for the all-important clash with Richmond at the MCG in Round 11.

Rioli attempted to block Ridley to free up teammate Jeremy Finlayson in last week’s Port Adelaide-Essendon clash, but as he turned his back and jumped in the air, his outstretched arm caught the Bomber defender high.

Ridley was concussed in the incident and took no further part in the game. He will miss this week’s game, but the Bombers hope he will return for the Dreamtime at the ‘G clash against Richmond in round 10.

While Port Adelaide’s counsel Paul Ehrlich argued that the block should not be classified as a strike, the AFL tribunal found that it did.

But tribunal chairman Jeff Gleeson said the panel agreed with Mr Ehrlich’s claim that the incident should not be classified as severe impact.

Mr Gleeson said: “The first question is whether the act constituted a strike. We find that it did.”

“As to impact, while the vision of the incident is not perfectly clear, we are satisfied there was not overly significant force in the blow. It appears to be more glancing than direct in nature.

“Ridley suffered a concussion as a result of the glancing nature of the action, but we are satisfied that there was no meaningful potential for other or more serious injury.

“Given we must take into account not only the injury, but also the force, we are not satisfied the impact was severe. We classify it as high and we impose a two-match suspension.”

Rioli, who has kicked eight goals from his 10 games this season, did not give evidence.

Earlier Mr Ehrlich argued that Ridley ran into Rioli’s arm “which certainly doesn’t swing back in a striking action”.

Junior Rioli Jordan Ridley suspension

“It is almost as if Ridley runs into that arm,” Mr Ehrlich said. “We say unfortunately because the arm is up … Mr Ridley ran into it.”

He said the eye contact made between Rioli and Finlayson showed it was “a well rehearsed” and “orchestrated” blocking motion.

“What I am suggesting to you is that … it is not what I would call a striking action,” he said. “It is a classic shepherding, blocking action.”

Tribunal chairman Gleeson added: “You won’t have much difficulty persuading me that broadly speaking what Rioli had in mind was a block. The question is whether in executing that he carelessly struck him.”

AFL counsel Lisa Hannon was adamant the incident constituted a striking offence: “It doesn’t matter that the strike occurred within the context of a shepherding or blocking motion. If you’re going to turn and jump to block and your arm swings back and connects with force with another player, it results in the commonly understood meaning of a strike.”

Jordan Ridley has been subbed out following this incident.#AFLPowerDonspic.twitter.com/giP2EOSzRS

— AFL (@AFL) May 7, 2023

Mr Ehrlich used several video examples to try and highlight the variance in severity and striking motions from different incidents, including last week’s incident which brought about a two-week ban for Melbourne’s Jacob van Rooyen which will go to appeal on Thursday night as well as recent three-week suspension to St Kilda’s Anthony Caminiti.

Of the van Rooyen incident, Mr Ehrlich said of the appeal: “I understand from the inquiries I’ve made that it (the grounds for van Rooyen’s appeal) is that it couldn’t be striking in the circumstances because there’s a legitimate attempt to spoil.”

AFL counsel Hannon said the van Rooyen example was “an entirely different incident involving a spoil.”

Originally published as Port Adelaide news: Miles Bergman contract talks, Junior Rioli suspension