Dylan Grimes fined for staging, Toby Greene charged with serious misconduct
Repeat offender Toby Greene could miss the Giants’ cut-throat semi-final after being charged with serious misconduct, while the match review officer has handed down his verdict on Dylan Grimes’ dive.
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Toby Greene’s trio of misconduct offences on Bulldogs star Marcus Bontempelli has resulted in a referral straight to the tribunal in a case that could see him suspended for Saturday’s final against Brisbane.
And Tiger Dylan Grimes was one of two players fined for staging in Richmond’s qualifying final win against Brisbane.
Greene made unnecessary contact to the face of Bontempelli in the crushing win over the Western Bulldogs as GWS clearly made the star midfielder a key target.
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In the same passage of play he massaged his forearm into the head of Bontempelli then with both hands shook his head and pushed it into the ground.
The AFL could have decided to hand him a trio of misconduct fines but they would have cost him just $3000 in total.
Instead, match review officer Michael Christian believed they constituted serious misconduct, which is referred directly to the tribunal.
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The tribunal can decide to hand the Giants repeat offender a fine up to $5000 or potentially suspend him for a week.
It is understood a week would likely be the longest penalty he would accept for the unnecessary contact to the face.
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But Christian ruled the contact in the three incidents was completely unnecessary and wants Greene to explain himself at the tribunal.
He produced a similar ruling in the Ben Stratton pinching case on Orazio Fantasia, which eventually saw him suspended for repeated pinching of the Essendon small forward.
Essendon’s Zach Merrett was fined on Thursday night for his lingering hold on Nic Naitanui’s hair, but Christian clearly believed the Greene incident was significantly worse.
Greene could still plead his case at the tribunal on Tuesday, escape with a hefty fine and then play against the Lions in the cut-throat semi-final.
The league could expedite Greene’s tribunal case to Monday night instead of its usual Tuesday slot to ensure the least distraction to their finals clash against the Lions.
GWS coach Leon Cameron told 3AW on Sunday there was no direction to target Bontempelli, but Harry Himmelberg has also been handed a fine for pinching him forcefully.
Greene has a lengthy rap sheet including kicks in marking contests that led to a change in the studs-up rule, but they are not relevant in this week’s case.
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There is no applicable good or bad record in tribunal or MRO cases under the league’s current system.
Richmond defender Grimes and Lions star Dayne Zorko were both fined $1000 for staging in separate incidents on Saturday night.
Dylan Grimes: "It's a relief, to be honest. To play how we were hoping to."#AFLLionsTigers pic.twitter.com/TQUwbUcOtA
— 7AFL (@7AFL) September 7, 2019
Fans on social media labelled Grimes’ act as not in the spirit of the game.
and the oscar goes to... dylan grimes! #AFLLionsTigers
— rebecca 💫 (@bxndito_) September 7, 2019
That was incredibly soft and not in the spirit of the game by Dylan Grimes #afl #aflfinals #aflLionsTigers
— Rossco (@MacdonaldRossco) September 7, 2019
Dylan Grimes needs to cop a fine for that. That’s not footy!! #aflLionsTigers
— MuzLe (@MuzLeLie) September 7, 2019
Alex Rance has really taught Dylan Grimes everything he knows.
— Drunk Logic (@drunk_logic) September 7, 2019
Fine at the bare minimum.
Should be a suspension if the AFL were half serious.
Most blatant dive I’ve seen since Rance.#AFLLionsTigers
Dylan Grimes should be ashamed of himself for that flop, it’s not in the spirit of the game. @AFL call him out and fine him #disgusting #staging #AFLLionsTigers
— Darren Course (@DazCourse) September 7, 2019
Dylan Grimes must’ve gone to the Alex Rance school of staging #AFLLionsTigers
— Thomas Gill (@tgill15_fish) September 7, 2019
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