By Peter Ryan and Steve Barrett
In today’s AFL Briefing, your wrap of footy news:
- Essendon forward Nate Caddy has avoided a fine for accidentally crashing into an umpire during Saturday’s match at Marvel Stadium.
- Adelaide’s win over Melbourne soured by a serious knee injury to Josh Rachele.
- Sam Lalor may need surgery after suffering a second hamstring injury for the season in the opening minutes of his comeback game against Geelong on Saturday.
Caddy in the clear over umpire clash
Peter Ryan
Essendon forward Nate Caddy has avoided a fine for accidentally crashing into an umpire during Saturday’s match at Marvel Stadium, just days after the AFL warned clubs players would face harsher penalties for umpire contact.
Caddy has given Bombers fans reason to be excited about their future. Credit: Getty Images
The incident occurred when Caddy charged into defence with his eyes on the ball and collided with the umpire, who had taken two steps into his line without being aware he was stepping in the player’s way.
Caddy was winded and took time to get back into the action and the umpire continued on, with Bombers’ coach Brad Scott slamming the umpiring department post-game for coaching umpires to operate in the corridor.
Last Tuesday, the AFL announced that players penalised for umpire contact four times in a two-year period could be sent to the tribunal and potentially face suspension if they made umpire contact a fifth time. It meant Gold Coast star Matt Rowell, who came perilously close to touching an umpire on Saturday at a centre bounce, could be suspended the next time he makes careless contact with an umpire.
Brad Scott is not happy that umpires aren’t clearing out of the corridor.Credit: AFL Photos
It’s unclear whether Scott’s critical comments will incur the wrath of the league, which holds its football operations meeting on Monday mornings.
Meanwhile, the match review officer decided only to fine Richmond’s Noah Balta for making high contact with Geelong’s Tom Stewart in the third quarter of Saturday’s match at GMHBA Stadium, grading it careless and low impact. Because it was Balta’s third forceful, front-on contact offence he will be fined $6250 if he accepts the sanction.
Balta is unavailable for selection next week anyway as he is still subject to a magistrate-imposed curfew as a result of pleading guilty to assault after an incident in NSW in the off-season, which stops him from playing night matches.
Nick Vlastuin was not cited for his bump on Patrick Dangerfield, which caused their heads to clash. Both players played the game out.
Adelaide’s gritty win over Dees might come at a cost
Steve Barrett
Izak Rankine bagged five goals as Adelaide overcame a second-quarter stumble and a knee injury to livewire Josh Rachele to notch a gritty 13-point win over Melbourne.
The Crows strengthened their grip on a top-four spot by inflicting the Demons’ fifth successive defeat, but the victory came at a cost, with Rachele exiting the contest in the closing minutes of the first half.
Rachele landed awkwardly in a marking contest with Jake Bowey inside-50 at the river end of Adelaide Oval and immediately reached for his right knee.
Top Crow Josh Rachele holds his knee in pain after landing heavily.Credit: Getty Images
Rachele, who missed a month of footy earlier this season with fractured ribs, was helped up by trainers before jogging to the bench unaided and being subbed out for Lachlan Murphy at the start of the third quarter.
Crows coach Matthew Nicks played a straight-bat when asked about the seriousness of Rachele’s injury.
“It’s one that we’re really mindful of not making any big statements around because we don’t know,” Nicks said.
“Without going into any more detail, it’s going to be a scan and our fingers are crossed.
“We’ll hope for the best and think positive thoughts.”
Despite copping their fifth successive defeat, the Demons believe they are building towards something bigger.
“I’ve said this a little bit, but we’re in a bit of a hurry in terms of trying to transition into our next premiership team,” Demons coach Simon Goodwin said.
“With that, you need to start winning - but you also need to build the right way.
“We’re trying to mould the old with the new and create a new frontier for the Melbourne Footy Club.
“The frustrating part of that is you’ve got to stick to the process at times, irrespective of results.”
The Crows repeatedly played into the hands of the Demons’ defence early doors, with one haphazard forward foray after another.
Melbourne’s interceptors Steven May, Daniel Turner and Jake Lever had a field day behind the footy, but the visitors were unable to capitalise in attack, misfiring for 1.6 at the other end to trail by three at quarter-time.
The Dees straightened up after the break and proceeded to destroy Adelaide on the outside.
Jacob van Rooyen and Kysaiah Pickett kicked two goals apiece to start the second term as Melbourne sizzled with five unanswered goals inside the first 12 minutes to steam ahead by 28 points.
During that stretch, the Demons had a whopping 44-7 advantage in disposals, including an implausible 32-1 in uncontested possessions.
But no deficit is too much for this Crows’ offensive juggernaut. Their revival was sparked by the brilliant Rankine.
He booted two in a row against the grain to have three of Adelaide’s first four before Taylor Walker added another.
Melbourne, despite having 79 more touches and 48 more marks for the half, saw their lead scaled right back to five points at intermission.
Rankine added two more in the third, then set up Zac Taylor for another as the Crows moved to a 15 point lead at three-quarter-time, winning the centre-square handsomely while flipping the script on the outside.
To their credit, the Dees kept coming.
They whittled the margin down to single digits when Jake Melksham - who shanked 5.6 last week against Gold Coast - slotted his fourth major from his sixth kick, before Ben Keays sealed it for Adelaide with a tumbling circus trick from the goal square.
Goodwin is confident his side’s veteran core - including captain Max Gawn (aged 33), May (33), Jake Melksham (33), Tom McDonald (32), Jack Viney (31) and Christian Petracca (29) - will be around long enough to enjoy the fruits of their current labour.
“They’ve got plenty of time,” Goodwin said.
“Max is playing some of his best footy, and he’s got plenty of years left in him.
“Jack Viney’s still got plenty left in him, Christian Petracca’s 29 - we’ve still got a lot of time to make sure we build this group and develop it the right way.
“Some encouraging signs but we’re in a hurry - we want to do it quick.”
Lalor may need hamstring surgery
Sam Lalor starred early in the season but has been struck down by hamstring injuries.Credit: Getty Images
Sam Lalor may need surgery after suffering a second hamstring injury for the season in the opening minutes of his comeback game against Geelong on Saturday.
Playing in his first match since May 23, when he strained his hamstring against Essendon in round 12, the 18-year-old injured the hamstring again in the opening minutes of Saturday’s match.
The Tigers are not expected to know the recovery program until Monday when the full extent of the injury is revealed, but it is unlikely Lalor will play again in 2025.
The No.1 draft pick showed his prodigious talent in his first 10 matches, but repeat hamstring injuries means the Tigers will need to undertake a rigorous assessment of the issue to ensure the problem is solved before he appears next.
Coach Adem Yze said Lalor’s injury flattened teammates and coaches, but the club would support him through the disappointment.
“I think the mechanism’s something that it’s hard to train. So yeah, it looks like a bad one, which is really disappointing,” Yze said.
“We’ve got to help him through that. We don’t want this to happen again. We want him to have a long career without these little hiccups.”
Jacob Bauer suffered a suspected ACL injury in the VFL on Sunday in Geelong to top off a bad weekend on the injury front for Richmond.
The better news for the Tigers was the reappearance of talented defender Josh Gibcus and best-and-fairest winner Jayden Short in the VFL. Richmond have a talented crop of youngsters, with Taj Hotton moving closer to selection.
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