The latest MRO news from round 20 of the AFL

The Tigers were left outraged by Rhyan Mansell’s suspension for pushing a player into contact, so what will be the outcome when Brody Mihocek faces MRO heat for doing the same to Nick Vlastuin?

Brody Mihocek will come under match review heat after being penalised for pushing Richmond defender into oncoming traffic in the Pies’ defeat of the Tigers.

But Vlastuin’s ability to emerge unscathed will likely see Mihocek dodge suspension despite Richmond forward Rhyan Mansell’s three-week ban earlier this year.

Mansell was suspended and the tribunal upheld his ban after it was judged he could reasonably foresee that the action in pushing St Kilda’s Liam O’Connell into traffic could cause injury.

O’Connell was concussed after he collided with Richmond’s Tom Lynch and St Kilda’s Anthony Caminiti after the ball went over the heads of the Saints defender and Mansell.

Brody Mihocek's incident with Nick Vlaustin

Rhyan Mansell collision

The Tigers were outraged by the decision after several incidents earlier in the season went unpunished, including Reuben Ginbey’s push on No. 1 overall pick Sam Lalor which concussed the young Tiger in the pre-season.

But there are differences between Mihocek and Mansell which mean Mihocek is less likely to be suspended for the clash against reigning premiers Brisbane.

As Vlastuin and Mihocek jostled for position Vlastuin initiated contact and pushed his opponent to get him under the drop zone.

Mihocek then pushed back hard with more force and then having shunted the Tigers star out of the way, looked back at the ball to try to win the footy in the air.

By that stage he was out of position and was never likely to win the ball.

Vlastuin collided with Nathan Broad and Jamie Elliott and while he received the free kick he bounced straight back up to take the free kick.

So MRO boss Michael Christian would have to judge that Mihocek could have foreseen the pair of players coming and that his action would have caused injury.

It is a high bar to jump but the MRO could still fine him or hand him a one-week ban.

Higgins was not hurt in the incident with Bowey. Picture: James Wiltshire/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Melbourne’s Jake Bowey will also be assessed after his run-down tackle saw St Kilda’s Jack Higgins propelled into the Marvel Stadium turf.

Bowey hit the contest with speed and Higgins pitched forward and made contact with the turf.

But Bowey did not pin his right arm and even loosened his grip with his left arm as Higgins went to ground.

Under AFL tribunal precedent the AFL has overturned suspensions when players release an arm so it is a key point for Christian to assess as he considers whether an incident is reportable.

Bowey is more likely to escape sanction because Higgins was clearly able to reduce the force of the contact with his fully free right arm.

Originally published as The latest MRO news from round 20 of the AFL