Tristan Xerri handed three-match ban for careless strike on Tom Sparrow, Harley Reid in the MRO spotlight again

Tristan Xerri and the Roos are weighing up whether they go to the tribunal to fight a lengthy ban, while a young Blue’s season is over after a mammoth suspension in the VFL.

North Melbourne will face the agonising decision over whether to appeal a suspension for All Australian contender Tristan Xerri – losing another $10,000 from their football soft cap – after his careless strike on opponent Tom Sparrow.

Meanwhile Ben Camporeale has been banned for four matches - the rest of Carlton’s VFL season.

The Roos will consult with their legal advocate on Monday after Xerri was handed a three-week ban for his strike on Melbourne’s Tom Sparrow.

Sparrow was knocked out immediately by the swinging arm incident, which was labelled a careless, severe-impact striking charge.

Tristan Xerri’s strike on Demon Tom Sparrow

North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson suggested it was a tackle gone wrong, while even Melbourne’s Jake Melksham defended the incident as an accident.

Xerri will miss games against Sydney, Geelong and St Kilda but it would also dent his All Australian claims, with Callum Coleman-Jones his likely replacement.

The Roos have already lost $20,000 by taking cases for Paul Curtis and Jackson Archer to the tribunal.

Under AFL rules clubs have to stump up $10,000 for an AFL tribunal appeal but get none of it back if a player is suspended without any change to the penalty.

Tristan Xerri walks off after the Roos’ loss to Melbourne. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Hawthorn’s Conor Nash was suspended for four weeks for his swinging-arm tackle on Geelong’s Gryan Miers but the ball was further away than in the Xerri incident.

Slow-motion replays of the incident show that Sparrow had the ball above his head and was bringing it down to waist-height.

Teammate Christian Salem pushed Jy Simpkin in the contest, who in turn pushed Sparrow forward and down.

The Roos could argue at the tribunal that that chain of events was out of Xerri’s control but meant he would have otherwise made contact with the ball instead of Sparrow’s head.

But the AFL would counter that Xerri did not show a high duty of care in the incident, which makes him guilty of a careless offence.

Harley Reid has been fined for the sixth time this season. Picture: Mark Brake/Getty Images.

West Coast’s Harley Reid is again in the spotlight with a sixth fine this season after his blatant trip with his foot that saw Port Adelaide’s Travis Boak go sprawling.

He was fined $10,000 ($6250 with a guilty plea) for the incident.

He conceded six free kicks for the night but Miles Bergman had already won a holding the ball free kick as the ball spilt to Boak, with Reid throwing his right foot out to trip him.

Reid had had a spate of fines and suspensions across his short career including the two-match ban that saw him ineligible for the Rising Star last year.

Only last week he was fined $3750 for rough conduct, fined $2000 for striking Lachie Fogarty in round 14, fined $1000 for striking Caleb Windsor in round 8, fined $1000 for instigating a melee in round 3 and was fined $1000 for flipping the bird to a Lions fan earlier this year.

Carlton’s Ben Camporeale was handed a four-week ban by the VFL tribunal for pushing Brisbane’s Deven Robertson into teammate James Tunstill in an incident that concussed both Lions players.

Camporeale pushed Robertson as he was approaching the ball and he collided heavily with Tunstill, also breaking several teeth.

Ben Camporeale had been in strong VFL form since being selected as a father-son pick last year but will have to go to the VFL tribunal if he wants to contest the four-week ban.

Carlton has only four VFL games left this season so if he accepted the four-week ban it would end his season.

Originally published as Tristan Xerri handed three-match ban for careless strike on Tom Sparrow, Harley Reid in the MRO spotlight again