St Kilda is seriously considering appealing Jake Carlisle’s two-match ban for striking Jack Riewoldt

WITH games coming up against West Coast and Sydney, St Kilda is seriously considering appealing Jake Carlisle’s two-match ban for the round-arm strike which concussed Jack Riewoldt.

Jake Carlisle has been handed a two-match ban by the MRO. Picture: Getty Images

ST KILDA will seriously consider appealing Jake Carlisle’s two-match ban for the round-arm strike which concussed Richmond spearhead Jack Riewoldt.

And the AFL has warned players not to make any contact with umpires in games after fining West Coast’s Willie Rioli $1000 for a friendly tap to the backside of whistle blower Ray Chamberlain.

The struggling Saints on Monday night lost one of their most important players for crucial clashes against West Coast and Sydney after Carlisle’s blow was classified as careless conduct with high impact to Riewoldt’s head.

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But the Saints could launch an appeal on Tuesday morning in a bid to save the key defender and downgrade the impact to medium, or argue altogether the contact was in a genuine attempt to spoil the ball.

AFL match review officer Michael Christian said the force was deemed high because Riewoldt appeared to be concussed before he hit the ground.

Riewoldt did not play any further part in the Tigers’ win on Saturday at the MCG.

Jack Riewoldt came off the ground after this incident involving Jake Carlisle.

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“Certainly the look wasn’t great and it was part of the reason it edged up into the high impact (classification),” Christian said.

And the AFL’s umpire contact rules are almost certain to be changed at season’s end as part of the league’s desire to wipe out all player contact with umpires throughout matches.

“It is really important to make this point clear and that is no player should touch an umpire,” Christian said.

“That is the message we really want to get across.

“We understand in the cut and thrust of the game that there is contact with the ball moving so quickly … but there is no room in the game for players contacting umpires.”

Rioli, 22, patted umpire Chamberlain on the backside in a deliberate, albeit endearing act, reigniting debate about what contact is acceptable.

Jake Carlisle has been handed a two-match ban by the MRO. Picture: Getty Images

The AFL downgraded the contact from intentional to careless, admitting it wanted the overall outcome to fall in line with recent tribunal rulings which also handed down fines to Carlton’s Charlie Curnow and Gold Coast’s Steven May.

But there remains an element of confusion after Geelong spearhead Tom Hawkins and Ed Curnow received one-match bans for their intentional umpire contact, prompting Cats gun Patrick Dangerfield to label the inconsistency as “farcical”.

The AFL is likely to change the umpire contact provisions to deal with demonstrative and friendly contact separately.

It would allow the league to deal out more severe penalties to threatening or more forceful behaviour and giving fines for lesser contact.

Christian said he was guided by the recent tribunal verdicts which cleared Charlie Curnow and May, but admitted the issue could come under review.

“There will be a number of things reviewed and fleshed out at the end of the year but in sitting down and assessing the contact the overriding factor was what happened over recent weeks, in particular at the tribunal and appeals board,” Christian said.

“In discussions with Steve Hocking, it was certainly prudent in this particular case to grade it as careless rather than intentional.”

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