AFL MRO, injury news from round 13: Sam Durham receives ban for bump on Adam Cerra

Essendon star Sam Durham has received a ban from the MRO for his bump on Adam Cerra. And Blues coach Michael Voss won’t be surprised after his comments on Sunday night.

Essendon star Sam Durham has been suspended for two weeks for his reckless front-on hit on Adam Cerra in a huge blow for the Dons’ finals hopes.

The Bombers dropped to 10th place on the AFL ladder following Sunday night’s loss to Carlton and will be without Durham for clashes with fourth-placed Geelong and the resurgent Dockers at Optus Stadium.

Durham finished third in last year’s Crichton Medal and despite a nagging ankle injury suffered against Brisbane remains one of the Dons’ most powerful midfielders.

But despite Cerra dodging concussion he was hit with a two-week suspension, with the bump considered high impact.

Sam Durham's bump on Adam Cerra

Melbourne’s Aidan Johnson was hit with a two-week ban for a high bump on St Kilda’s Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera last week even though the Saints midfielder dodged concussion.

Durham was always going to be second to the ball but tucked his arm in well before reaching Cerra and then drove through the contest.

He was in a classic bumping position and even though one of his arms trailed down closer to the footy he showed no duty of care to his Blues opponent.

Cerra was immediately assessed by the Carlton doctor with an on-ground HIA and then 14 minutes later, out of what the Blues said was “absolute precaution”, he was given a 20-minute SCAT6 test which he passed.

The AFL can order a player off the ground for a boundary-line HIA but under AFL rules it is also possible for a doctor to pass a player fit while assessing them on the ground.

Carlton was adamant on Monday that it followed every protocol with Cerra’s care.

The Blues continued to assess the vision of the incident and were more worried about swelling around his eye and any potential damage to his cheekbone.

Cerra passed his concussion test afterwards. Picture: Michael Klein

Melbourne great Garry Lyon labelled it “ridiculous” and a “failure of the system” that Cerra did not leave the field.

Blues coach Michael Voss said post-match he was not sure about the club’s protocols with Cerra but said he would be monitored in coming days.

“I think it’s pretty black and white. You just can’t do that anymore,” Voss said.

“Look, I’m conscious right now that it’s an opposition player, and I don’t want to go down that path, but I think when you look at the clinical way of why we put the rule in the first place, it was probably that, wasn’t it?

“When a player’s got their head over the ball, the reality is we’re coached differently now.

“We have to coach our players to let them win the ball and step to the side and give them the opportunity to get their hands on it first.

“So that’s the nature of the competition and what we’re asked to do.”

Voss said the club took “quite a cautious approach” with Cerra by not only assessing him initially, but also taking him down to the rooms for further testing.

While Cerra played out the game, and seemed fine in the rooms afterwards, Voss stressed the monitoring of the midfielder had only just begun.

“This is one part of ongoing checks for the player,” Voss said.

“We’ve got to still be sitting here in a day’s time and two days’ time and still got to follow the protocols and we’ll go through those when we need to.”

Essendon coach Brad Scott had sympathy for the predicament that Durham found himself in.

“We encourage them (players) to go low in the contest, make the ball their objective,” Scott said.

“Now, they’ve got to make split-second decisions. I mean, imagine being a player now: you bump because if they (opponent) haven’t got the ball, it’s holding the man; you want to tackle to dispossess, but you can’t dump them.

“I understand all the challenges in the game around health and safety, but players have probably a more difficult job now in terms of duty of care to their opponents than they’ve ever had at any stage in AFL history.

“Durham’s a go-ahead type player and as hard at the ball as anyone and that’s really what we encourage him and our players to do.”

NORTH’S DILEMMA WTIH INTERCEPTING DEFENDER DOWN

- Jon Ralph

North Melbourne fears star defender Charlie Comben has shoulder blade damage that would rule him out of their clash against Fremantle on Saturday.

Comben’s arm was in a sling on Monday morning as the Roos drove from Bunbury to their Fremantle home base for the week after their nail biting victory over West Coast.

They will spend the week in Fremantle before their Optus Oval clash against the Dockers.

The intercept defender left the ground after copping a brutal hit to his shoulder, with the Roos ruling out a shoulder dislocation.

The fear is that he has cracked his scapula, with Comben unable to get full function in his shoulder and unable to return to the ground.

Comben could miss the clash with Freo. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

He will have late afternoon scans in Perth after the Roos drive north.

A hairline fracture to the shoulder can see players return within 3-4 weeks but more extensive damage can rule them out for double that time.

The Roos brought only two emergencies with them to WA in back-up ruckman Brynn Teakle and small forward Cooper Harvey.

Fellow emergency Kallan Dawson remained in Melbourne to play VFL so he and first-year key back Matt Whitlock would be the contenders to fly west to take on the Eagles if Comben is ruled out.

The Roos averted what would have been a diabolical loss to the Eagles given they have sold a pair of home games to WA for $2.5 million.

It would also have raised Eagles hopes of leaping over North Melbourne to escape the wooden spoon this year.

The Roos have traded their 2025 first-round pick to Richmond in exchange for the Whitlock selection and the Tigers’ 2025 second-rounder.

But a dominant last quarter as Tristan Xerri, Luke Parker, Jy Simpkin and Colby McKercher got to work saved the Roos as they kicked the final four goals of the game.

RICHMOND’S CURSED ACL LUCK CONTINUES

– Jon Ralph

Richmond’s cursed luck with ACL tears has continued after returning flanker Judson Clarke suffered a third anterior cruciate ligament tear.

But intercept defender Campbell Gray had avoided a worst-case scenario after his own knee concern and will only be out for the short-term future.

Clarke had been in scintillating form returning from last year’s ACL tear when he went down playing VFL on Saturday.

It is the third ACL tear to the same right leg and while Clarke is contracted for next year the No. 30 draft pick from 2011 will have to be ultra-cautious with the timeline of his latest recovery.

Judson Clarke had been closing in on an AFL return.

Mid-season draftee Gray has impressed replacing defender Noah Balta when he has been sidelined given curfew concerns but has suffered a posterolateral knee injury.

The club said he did not need surgery and while he will be sidelined the club said he would not be out long term.

The injuries capped a horror weekend for the Tigers, who were thrashed by Sydney in one of the worst performances of their otherwise solid year.

Richmond football boss Tim Livingstone said it was gutting news for left-footer Clarke.

“Judson is a great character and has worked so hard behind the scenes to get himself back playing football and into fantastic form,” he said.

“This is such an unfortunate setback for Judson, and we are all so disappointed that he will not be on the field for a little while.

“He will have the support of everyone at Richmond to come back again from this and we know he will give it his all.

“Campbell will still require a period of rehabilitation, but we hope to see him back continuing his good form sooner rather than later.”

BIG MAN’S BLOW SOURS CATS’ WIN OVER TOP FOUR RIVALS GOLD COAST

– Josh Barnes

Geelong big man Shannon Neale joined Bailey Smith on the sidelines as the Cats already count the cost of a tough battle against Gold Coast.

Neale appeared to jar his left ankle badly midway through the second quarter and struggled to get to the bench.

Playing in the ruck at the time, Neale contested a ball in and then landed awkwardly and limped into the rooms.

Only moments later, Neale’s ruck mate appeared to dislocate a finger in the ruck, but carried on with the play.

Shannon Neale competes in a ruck contest before going off injured.

Bailey Smith was a late out.

Neale was supped out before half-time, with veteran Mitch Duncan injected into the game.

The Cats began the afternoon with a limp, as star onballer Smith pulled out before the match with hamstring awareness.

Smith felt for his right hamstring late in a win over West Coast, but played out the match.

He underwent a fitness test under the watchful eye of medical staff but could be seen pointing to that right hamstring.

The walking headline Cat was spotted watching the game from the stands in a heft jacket to ward off frosty and wet conditions.

The Cats are also sweating on another injury scare for luckless veteran Cam Guthrie, after he limped off from a VFL win after just 10 minutes on Sunday.

Playing his third VFL game of the year on Sunday after a long achilles battle, Guthrie gathered four disposals in quick time but headed down the race with a limp at the 10 minute mark.

The dual best-and-fairest winner played just four AFL games last year and six the year before during a tough injury run.

The Cats are expecting to know more about the severity of the issue on Monday.

Geelong faces Essendon next week, before a blockbuster home game against Brisbane, which is followed by a bye.

CROW BANNED FOR SECOND TIME IN EIGHT WEEKS FOR DUMP TACKLE

– Glenn McFarlane

Adelaide’s James Peatling will miss Friday night’s crucial game with Hawthorn in Launceston after being banned for a dangerous tackle for the second time this season.

Peatling was reported on Friday night for rough conduct where he took Brisbane’s Lachie Neale to ground, with the midfielder’s head slamming into the ground.

Neale was assessed but was allowed to play out the rest of the game, saving Peatling from a worse outcome than his one-game ban.

If Neale had been concussed, Peatling would likely have received a three-game suspension.

The match review officer graded Peatling’s incident as careless conduct, medium impact and high contact, which ruled him out of the Hawks clash.

The controlling umpire reported Peatling on the spot in Friday night’s clash, with the ban a blow for the Crows who are on track to break an eight-year finals drought.

Peatling, in his first year with the Crows after moving from GWS, also copped a one-game suspension when he laid a dump tackle on Geelong’s Oisin Mullin back in round 5.

Originally published as AFL MRO, injury news from round 13: Sam Durham receives ban for bump on Adam Cerra