Conor McKenna pleads guilty to biting and is suspended for three weeks at AFL Tribunal

ESSENDON’S Conor McKenna will miss the next three weeks after pleading guilty at the AFL Tribunal to biting Bulldog Tory Dickson on Sunday. Re-cap all the details here.

ESSENDON’S Northern Irish import Conor McKenna has been handed only the third AFL biting suspension since 1991 for “a sheer act of desperation” against Western Bulldog Tory Dickson.

He will miss three weeks in the climax of a case that shocked the football world. Dickson’s testimony to AFL integrity officer Kerry Gassner was that he felt a “quick nip to his neck” in one of the AFL’s most bizarre episodes in recent years. WATCH: NEW FOOTAGE OF McKENNA BITE ROBBO: WHY DID WOOSHA GET AN EXTENSION? UMP-GATE: CHRISTIAN FACES CALLS TO RESIGN Jeff Gleeson QC, acting for the AFL, said the “sheer act of desperation” was “not an act in the spirit of the game”. “It is rather inexplicable, a quick scuffle resulting in a bite,’’ he said. “This was a bite to the neck. He moved towards a part of the body which is particularly vulnerable and he bit the neck. “In no game, in any era, has biting been an act in the game.” McKenna effectively received a one-week discount on a four-week sentence for pleading guilty despite the lack of video evidence proving he had bitten Dickson. “I take full responsibility for my actions and I am sorry for what I have done,” he said afterwards. “I am just looking forward to moving on now and getting over the decision.” He will miss a home clash against Port Adelaide, then the Anzac Day clash against Collingwood and a Round 6 encounter against Melbourne. The only other biting suspensions in the AFL era were a three-week ban handed to West Coast’s Chris Lewis in 1991 and a two-week ban for fellow Eagle Chris Masten in 2015. McKenna was condemned not only by a photo of the damage taken by Dogs football staffer Ben Graham at half-time in Sunday’s game but also Dickson’s testimony to AFL integrity officer Gassner. The Northern Irish defender was supported in character evidence by Irish premiership player Tadhg Kennelly, who helped recruit the Gaelic football star to AFL. He said he was in “disbelief” when he first heard about the bite and described the incident as “totally out of character for Conor”. McKenna had just been dragged down by Dickson after a brilliant chase, with the Essendon defender ending up on top of the Dogs forward. Both scuffled on the ground with McKenna on top and “during the scuffle Tory felt a quick nip on his neck”, according to the Bulldog forward’s interview. The video footage shows his mouth in close contact to his neck for several seconds, before Dickson gets up. In the aftermath Dickson had a visible mark on his neck, coming to the bench complaining of being bitten. The AFL report stated “he immediately felt he was bitten, but it was minor”. When he quickly ran to the bench for a scheduled interchange, “he notified (official) Ben Graham and the team doctor who inspected his neck. “Ben Graham took a photo of it at half-time and the Dogs doctor took a photo at full-time”. Gilbert Gardiner, Ben Higgins and debutant Dan Batten discuss all the big SuperCoach issues in the lead up to Round 4 in the HiPages SuperCoaches Box. The Bulldogs medical report from club doctor Jake Landsberger reported that when Dickson came off for a scheduled rotation, “he told Gary Zimmerman and I he had been bitten on the front left side of the neck”. There was minimal damage from a “vertical red abraised area of Dickson’s neck”. Gleeson had submitted that a three-week penalty would be appropriate given McKenna’s guilty plea. He lauded McKenna’s guilty plea given the lack of video proving the bite. Anderson argued for a week‘s suspension and a fine given Dickson’s skin was not broken and his client had lodged a guilty plea. He argued West Coast midfielder Chris Masten had been handed a two-week penalty for a bite that broke the skin and then saw him plead not guilty. LIVE stream the 2018 Toyota AFL Premiership on FOX SPORTS. Every match of every round LIVE in HD, with no ad-breaks siren-to-siren! Get your 2-week free trial now >

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