VFL: Williamstown’s Lachie Gollant suspended for four matches

A former Adelaide Crow has been handed a four-match ban for rough conduct but due to the VFL fixture, he will be sidelined for longer. See the incident which concussed his opponent.

This is the ugly tackle that will take a chunk out of Williamstown forward Lachie Gollant’s VFL season.

The VFL tribunal last night suspended the ex-Adelaide Crows forward for four matches over an incident in last Saturday’s match against Southport at Point Gellibrand.

Gollant tackled Southport player Zach Molloy in the second quarter, with the former Collingwood VFL player hitting the ground close to the boundary fence behind the goals.

Molloy played no further part in the game.

Molloy has entered concussion protocols and will miss the Sharks’ next two matches.

Gollant was charged with misconduct, with the VFL match review panel judging it careless conduct with “severe impact’’ and “high contact’’.

Gollant was offered a four-match suspension but chose to contest it.

Last night he was found guilty and banned for four games.

But with Willy having two byes, the ban will keep him out of football for longer.

The Towners do not play this weekend, have games in rounds 8, 9, 10 and 11, then have another bye, meaning the 23-year-old cannot return until Williamstown’s Round 13 western derby with Werribee.

Gollant joined the Towners this year after playing 16 AFL games for the Crows.

But his club may seek to have the byes included in his suspension period, an exemption granted to young Saint Alix Tauru last week. Tauru, a top-10 pick in last year’s draft, also received a four-match suspension for rough conduct towards Brisbane’s Curtis McCarthy.

Before being given the reprieve, St Kilda coach Ross Lyon hit out at the suspension as Tauru was set to miss six weeks of footy due to byes which came during the period of suspension.

“Well, is it four or is it six weeks? We’re incredibly disappointed. I’m really frustrated. It talks to a broken system,” Lyon said.

“We’ve already had one bye, we’re having another one this week. I just don’t understand the human side … So we’ve got a first-year top 10 draft pick, that if you think the penalty is four weeks, that’s okay, but they know we’ve got a bye and then at the end of that, there’s another bye. So, how the tribunal doesn’t take into consideration that it is six weeks?”