Sydney’s Luke Parker sent to tribunal for bump during VFL match against Frankston

Essendon will be without one of their young guns for Saturday night’s clash with Richmond while Luke Parker is staring at a huge ban for his bump in a VFL match.

Sydney star Luke Parker has been sent straight to the VFL tribunal for a rough conduct hit on Frankston’s Josh Smith that will see him suspended for more than four weeks if found guilty.

And Essendon’s young emerging forward Harrison Jones has been handed a one-week ban for a rough conduct charge against North Melbourne’s Zac Fisher.

Jones will need to challenge the ban at the tribunal to be available to take on Richmond in the Dreamtime at the ‘G game or his absence could open the way for a debut for No.10 draft pick Nate Caddy.

Parker’s hopes of a return to the AFL after four VFL games have been dashed after the VFL tribunal on Monday assessed it as a severe-impact hit.

As the Herald Sun reported on Sunday, the VFL had the potential to hand him a four-week ban he could accept without going to the tribunal.

Luke Parker looks likely to cop a lengthy suspension. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Instead they chose the more significant penalty by referring it to the tribunal.

And in an ominous sign for Parker, AFL football boss Josh Mahoney said on Monday it was the kind of incident the league was keen to eradicate from the game after being asked about the clash.

“We are trying to do everything we can to protect the head. We understand there are some collisions in our game but any time we can prevent an incident from occurring where there is an incident involving a high contact or concussion we are trying to make those changes as much as we can,” he said.

Smith faces a prolonged recovery from multiple facial fractures after the pair’s crunching collision in a Friday night VFL clash at Frankston.

While Parker braced to bump Smith with the ball well past him he is responsible for the contact given he initiated the collision under AFL and VFL rules.

Slow-mo footage shows the pair likely clashed heads in the incident that saw Smith taken to hospital by family members.

Parker is in hot water for this incident in the VFL.

Frankston coach Jackson Kornberg said on Sunday that Smith, a carpenter formerly from Koo Wee Rup, was facing a lengthy absence.

“He’s not in a great way. He was in hospital last night and he’s got significant facial fractures and a concussion as well. He will have an operation this week. He is in good spirits but he will be out for a considerable amount of time. He will need some work done and it’s disappointing because he was having a great year but an incident like that potentially puts him out for the rest of the season.”

In other MRO news Zac Butters was handed a $10,000 fine for a third offence after he body-checked Hawthorn’s Lloyd Meek off the ball, but he can accept a $6250 fine from the AFL with a guilty plea.

Willem Drew was also found guilty after his dumping tackle on Hawthorn’s Jai Newcombe but he can accept a $2500 fine after he was spared suspension.

Originally published as Sydney’s Luke Parker sent to tribunal for bump during VFL match against Frankston