St Kilda’s Marcus Windhager suspended for Gather Round over hit to Sam Durham

A St Kilda tough nut will miss the club’s Gather Round clash after a heavy collision with Bomber Sam Durham in the side’s loss to Essendon on Saturday afternoon.

Marcus Windhager being tackled by Archie Perkins. The Saint will miss Gather Round after being suspended for a bump on Sam Durham. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images.

St Kilda tough nut Marcus Windhager will miss the club’s Gather Round clash against Richmond after receiving a one-match ban for a high bump.

Windhager ploughed into Essendon’s Sam Durham in the second term on Saturday, hitting the Bomber with a hip to his head over a ground ball.

Instead of diving in to contest the Sherrin, Windhager turned and made contact with his backside and will pay the price after the match review officer verdict.

The incident was assessed as careless conduct, medium impact and high contact, triggering a one-match ban in another test of the Saints’ midfield depth.

Marcus Windhager being tackled by Archie Perkins. The Saint will miss Gather Round after being suspended for a bump on Sam Durham. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images.

Ross Lyon’s men have already lost Mason Wood (collarbone) and Liam Henry (hamstring) but will welcome back star spearhead Max King for the clash against the Tigers.

The club will also consider blooding a sixth debutant over the first four rounds with first-year playmakers Arie Schoenmaker and Hugo Garcia in the mix.

Durham played on after the Windhager bump but was concussed shortly after in a separate incident in a Seb Ross tackle.

The Bombers said Durham’s head injury stemmed from the Ross tackle and not the first incident with Windhager, as Durham bounced up quickly.

But it is a blow for Lyon’s men as they look to post their second win of the season against rebuilding Richmond at Norwood Oval after a last-term fade-out against the Bombers.

It will be a key month for the Saints as they prepare tackle the Tigers, GWS Giants, Western Bulldogs and Port Adelaide in search of a second-straight finals campaign in 2024.

King will return from a one-match suspension.

Essendon defender Nic Martin had a career-high 44 touches against the Saints and said he thought a tag was coming his way after a prolific first half.

“I was a little bit surprised how much of the footy I found,” Martin said on Triple M.

“Sometimes I was sort of thinking ‘Geez, am I doing something wrong here?’

“Am I getting too much of it?

“I was doing the maths in my head at half time. I thought ‘Gee, I am on track for 50 here.”

Originally published as St Kilda’s Marcus Windhager suspended for Gather Round over hit to Sam Durham