The latest MRO news as Marcus Windhager fights fine for striking Nick Daicos
The tribunal will hear Marcus Windhager’s case as he attempts to overturn his fine after an incident with Nick Daicos, while a gun goalkicker is set to avoid a ban despite leaving a player concussed.
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Gold Coast star Ben King will be free to take on Melbourne on Saturday despite the collision which concussed Lachie Whitfield as footy’s stars continue their squeaky clean winter.
Only three AFL players have had suspensions upheld in the past five weeks despite the AFLPA suggesting players are confused about the regulations around dangerous tackles.
Only Callum Mills (rough conduct against Charlie Spargo), Aidan Johnson (rough conduct against Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera) and Sam Durham (rough conduct against Adam Cerra) have had suspensions upheld in the past five rounds.
No other players have been suspended for punches or dump tackles, with Fremantle’s Alex Pearce able to overturn his three-match ban for rough conduct on Darcy-Byrne Jones.
Whether the quiet period is an aberration or a sign of the change in behaviour for players is yet to be seen, but amid 1000 tackles each weekend it is a reasonable sample size.
King tried to hunt the ball in the Gold Coast loss to GWS in Sydney in a collision where Whitfield came off second best.
But while players have a duty of care to their opponents, King got the contest first and had both hands down attempting to win the ball.
While the video replay shows that he lifted his left hand as Whitfield approached, he still genuinely tried to win the football.
The MRO will have to judge whether he contested the ball in a reasonable manner but he did not divert off his line so will feel confident he will be cleared.
The AFL did fine St Kilda tagger Marcus Windhager for his open-handed strike which seemed to wind Collingwood’s star midfielder Nick Daicos as the pair battled early in the Saturday night contest.
He will contest that $1000 fine with a written submission to the tribunal.
Under MRO rules, a strike is considered a blow delivered with force so it does not have to be a closed-hand punch to be assessed as reportable.
St Kilda coach Ross Lyon wondered if there were two sets of rules after his player was penalised several times early in that contest.
“I’m not sure they were free kicks, but I think we’ll take that in (to the AFL) and ask the question,” Lyon said.
“Are there two sets of rules going around? I’m not sure.”
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Originally published as The latest MRO news as Marcus Windhager fights fine for striking Nick Daicos
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