Zach Merrett and Taylor Adams suspended, out of Anzac clash

The Anzac Day clash between Essendon and Collingwood is going to be missing two big stars after the tribunal continued a ruthless trend.

Zach Merrett and Taylor Adams are out of Anzac Day. Photo: Getty Images

Essendon captain Zach Merrett and Collingwood star Taylor Adams will miss Tuesday’s Anzac Day clash at the MCG after both failed to have their charges downgraded.

The pair will each miss one week for their dangerous tackles, continuing the AFL Tribunal’s refusal to budge on the issue this season.

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No player has successfully escaped a suspension for a dangerous tackle at the Tribunal this season.

Merrett fronted the judiciary looking to argue down his tackle on Melbourne’s Tom Sparrow, arguing firstly the charge of rough conduct, and secondly, the impact of the tackle should have been low rather than medium.

Merrett explained he was trying to make a normal tackle but Sparrow’s “sidestep” threw the Bombers skipper from his feet.

League representative Nick Pane argued: “At all times your right arm was pulling Sparrow down towards the ground.”

However, Merrett countered that he felt he pulled Sparrow onto him.

“I wasn’t pulling him directly towards the ground,” he argued. “I’m doing everything to pull him onto me. It feels like his body connects with mine as I hit the ground as well.

“You react on habits and instinct and we’re certainly coached and educated massively around the safety element. I’m hoping my habit or instinct was to do that (pull him onto me).

“Players with the ball are going to try and fight tackles, I felt Tom used his right arm to semi-push my chest, so I’m trying to pull him closer to me to not allow any space for him to get the ball out.”

Merrett copped a one match ban. Photo: Fox Sports

But when the Tribunal adjudicated, although it found Merrett’s testimony to be “honest and forthright”, didn’t downgrade the charge.

“A reasonable player in Merrett’s position would have realised there was some vulnerability for Sparrow because his right arm was pinned, would’ve realised the tackle was both pulling and pushing in such a way that Sparrows head was driving towards the ground with force and that there was a real risk Sparrow wouldn’t land entirely on Merrett,” AFL Tribunal chairman Jeff Gleeson found.

“For those reasons, we find this was a dangerous tackle.

“As to impact, while there was no injury to Sparrow, the force with which Sparrow’s head hit the ground was plain to see.

“The potential for injury arose and the appropriate classification of impact is medium.”

Between the pair, St Kilda’s Anthony Caminiti’s striking charge on Collingwood’s Nathan Murphy was downgraded from the five-week ban the AFL was seeking to a three-week suspension.

Adams was the final case of the night for his tackle on Seb Ross, to which the Magpie was seeking a downgrade from medium to low impact.

The Tribunal continued its crackdown. Photo: Fox Sports

It was a three-man tackle as Tom Mitchell and Beau McCreery were also involved.

Adams argued he was trying to “minimise impact” but his teammates falling off balance contributed to the force in the tackle.

“Tom’s got half a foot on the ground, he’s got his whole weight falling onto us,” he said. “Beau, he likes tackling that much that he’s tackling Tom to try and tackle Ross. There’s almost 180 kilos of weight going through them.

“I tried to protect both Seb and myself. It’s lucky I did, otherwise he would’ve hit the ground harder.

“Seb actually mentioned to me after this that he was able to get a handball away.”

The AFL’s case argued Adams’ actions made it a dangerous tackle and that the other two players “might magnify” the impact of the tackle.

However, the Tribunal upheld the charge.

Originally published as Zach Merrett and Taylor Adams suspended, out of Anzac clash