AFL Round 4 Geelong v Hawthorn: Jeremy Cameron umpire collision and all news from the MCG game
A furious Chris Scott has slammed the AFL after Mark Blicavs was injured in a rucking duel as two other players were likely to come under MRO scrutiny following separate incidents.
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Geelong coach Chris Scott has hit out at the AFL for failing to properly address “dangerous” actions in ruck contests after Mark Blicavs was injured by an errant knee.
Blicavs was running in to compete in a centre bounce ruck contest against Hawthorn’s Lloyd Meek during the first quarter of their Easter Monday clash when Meek raised his left knee.
Blicavs went down holding the right side of his ribcage and came from the field for a significant period of time before being cleared to return by medical staff.
The officiating umpire paid a free kick against Meek for raising his knee, but he was not reported at the time.
Asked if the action warranted a suspension, a frustrated Scott replied, “Yes, it does”.
Carlton’s Tom De Koning was fined $2000 for similarly kneeing Geelong’s Rhys Stanley in a ruck contest in Round 2, leading the AFL to send a memo to clubs advising against the practice.
“You can’t do it,” Scott said.
“There are two umpires right there. The AFL sent out a memo that couldn’t have been clearer, saying not only is that a free kick but it’s reportable. You cannot do it. So how they missed that is beyond me and it has to be taken out of the game.
“I’ve got no dog in the fight around the penalty for the opposition player.
“I don’t want to see the guy get suspended. It doesn’t help us, anyway. Just stop doing it. That should be the message from the AFL. The disappointing thing is they sent out a memo specifically two weeks ago saying you couldn’t do it and it keeps happening. It’s so dangerous.”
The Cats overcame a nine-point deficit at halftime to power past the Hawks by 82-points at the MCG, securing their first win over the season.
Key forward Jeremy Cameron booted seven goals, while captain Patrick Dangerfield and vice-captain Tom Stewart also stood up in a dominant second half.
“The competitors that I respect are the ones that where things aren’t going that well, they find a way to stand up,” Scott said.
“I thought we had several of them today. Stewart and Dangerfield, in particular, stood up and led the way.”
Scott said he hoped the second half would prove a turning point in the reigning premier’s season and help to build momentum after a tough start to the year.
“We knew that we needed to fight really hard to get this game on our terms but build a bit of momentum in our season,” he said.
“I thought the second half, especially the third quarter, was a good sign for us and hopefully we can carry that momentum.”
Defender Sam De Koning trained strongly on Monday and is expected to return from concussion protocols for a clash against West Coast at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
Big Cat in bizarre ump hit after seven-goal blitz
Hawthorn midfielder Will Day and Geelong forward Gary Rohan face the prospect of missing Gather Round after laying dangerous sling tackles which will come under the microscope of the AFL’s match review officer.
The pair could both be slapped with one-week bans as the AFL cracks down on dangerous actions which have the potential to land opponents in concussion protocols.
The two incidents preceded Geelong key forward Jeremy Cameron unintentionally cleaning up a boundary umpire while celebrating his seventh goal.
Cameron ran into an open goal with two minutes remaining and slammed the ball through the middle of the goalposts at the Cats’ cheer squad end of the ground.
Jezza Cameron slots his seventh but collides with the umpire mid-celebration.#AFLCatsHawkspic.twitter.com/AbyDSaggQN
— AFL (@AFL) April 10, 2023
He was celebrating with the crowd before accidentally running into the umpire close to the boundary line and falling on top of him following the collision.
Cameron helped the umpire back to his feet and appeared to apologise, before coming to the bench.
The umpire got up and took his position for the next centre bounce.
“I might have to give him my shoes or something after that,” Cameron said of the umpire after the game.
“But he probably won’t accept it after that. It was a big hit.”
Day wrapped up Brad Close early in the third quarter, pinning his arms and driving his head into the turf.
Rohan laid an aggressive sling tackle on Changkuoth Jiath midway through the second quarter, also pinning his arms and spinning him around.
It was unclear on the broadcast vision whether Jiath’s head hit the turf in that tackle.
Both Close and Jiath were uninjured and played out the game, but that is no certainty to save them from sanctions.
Adelaide’s Luke Pedlar was suspended for one week for a dangerous tackle on Port Adelaide’s Dan Houston during the Showdown in Round 3, despite Houston playing on.
Former St Kilda star Leigh Montagna said dangerous tackles needed to be penalised regardless of the outcome.
“We’re seeing with the bump that the action now is going to be suspendable and then it’s a matter of how many weeks depending on the impact,” Montagna said on Fox Footy.
“I believe being slammed into the turf with your head with your arms pinned is more dangerous than a bump in a lot of circumstances. So I think this action now is suspendable.”
The AFL is facing lawsuits from former players who suffered concussions during their playing careers.
Across Round 4, five players suffered concussions — Tom McCartin (Sydney), Paddy McCartin (Sydney), Alex Keath (Western Bulldogs), Sam Weideman (Essendon) and Jed Bews (Geelong).
What sort of punishment is Gary Rohan in for after this sling tackle on Jiath?
— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) April 10, 2023
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10-goal third quarter blitz signals Cats’ revival
The reigning premier’s hangover has lasted precisely three and a half games, brought to an end with a scintillating 10-goal quarter as the Cats made a statement to the rest of the competition on Easter Monday.
Geelong overcame a nine-point halftime deficit to crush Hawthorn by 82 points, as Jeremy Cameron affirmed his status as the competition’s best player with a seven-goal haul in wet conditions at the MCG.
Cameron was the sole reason Geelong was on the scoreboard at all going into the main break, but no margin would have been enough to hold the Cats back as their sleeping premiership stars awoke with a bang in the third term.
Forward trio Tom Hawkins, Brad Close and Ollie Henry’s early season struggles were a distant memory as they each booted two third quarter goals, taking five marks inside 50 between them as the scoreless Hawks had one inside 50 for the entire quarter.
Cameron sent a late scare through the Cats faithful when he ploughed into a boundary umpire while celebrating his seventh goal.
HAWKS BLOW BIG CHANCE
It looked like history was repeating when Hawthorn burst away from Geelong with the opening three goals of the game, dominating at stoppages and hardly conceding an inside 50 to the Cats as the first 15 minutes were played to the same script as last year’s Easter Monday fixture.
But costly errors meant the Hawks could not capitalise on the opportunity to get ahead, with several chances blown which could have given the Hawks a five or six-goal buffer.
Even a lead of that margin would have been unlikely to hold off the Cats once they clicked, but a more ruthless start from the Hawks would have heaped pressure on their winless opponents in front of the big crowd.
CAMERON & ASSOCIATES
Jeremy Cameron is playing on another level to the rest of his Cats teammates this season, and single-handedly kept them in the game as he had a hand in all four of Geelong’s first half goals, kicking three and setting up the other with a neat centering ball for Max Holmes.
No moment better displayed his critical importance to the Cats than the lead-up to his third goal, when he took an intercept mark from a kick out of Hawthorn’s defence, switched the play, and then ran hard forward to fly over a pack and take the next kick in the chain with a huge overhead grab against three Hawks.
BLESSED IS THE MEEK
Many could be forgiven for missing Cameron’s intercept mark before his goal, because it immediately followed one of the season’s great highlights so far.
Hawthorn ruckman Lloyd Meek took a strong mark on the behind line, and then decided to play on and sell a dummy to the fastest player on the ground in Gary Rohan.
On paper this looked like a poor choice for the 203cm former Docker, but his lightning feet left Rohan sprawled flat on the ground as he charged off in the other direction out of defence.
SCOREBOARD
CATS 3.2, 4.3, 14.8, 19.13 (127)
HAWKS 3.3, 5.6, 5.6, 6.9 (45)
BOURKE’S BEST
Cats: Cameron, Dangerfield, Smith, Holmes, Duncan, Z Guthrie.
Hawks: Breust, Ward, Day, Meek, Impey, Amon.
GOALS
Cats: Cameron 7, Hawkins 2, Close 2, Henry 2, Stengle 2, Holmes, O’Connor, Rohan, Dangerfield.
Hawks: Breust 3, Greene 2, Amon.
UMPIRES
Findlay, Fisher, Gavine, Stephens.
INJURIES
Cats: Bews (concussion).
Hawks: none.
VENUE
65,335 at the MCG
BOURKE’S VOTES
3 J. Cameron (Gee)
2 P. Dangerfield (Gee)
1 I. Smith (Gee)
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