Chol’s miserable Sunday extended after suspension, St Kilda expected to challenge Jack Higgins’ ban

Mabior Chol’s miserable Sunday afternoon at the MCG now has a suspension added on top, with the key forward handed a ban for striking Errol Gulden.

Mabior Chol has been handed a one-match ban. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images.

Mabior Chol’s nightmare Sunday has been made worse after the Hawthorn forward was handed a one-game suspension for striking Sydney star Errol Gulden.

The Hawk recruit was cited for a right handed punch that caught Gulden high in the first quarter of Sunday’s 76-point loss.

The hit resulted in a free kick, paid just as Chol’s teammate Blake Hardwick was about to slot a goal from the 50m arc.

After the goal was disallowed, the Swans then swept the ball from one end to the other and goaled themselves, setting the scene for the thrashing result.

Chol’s hit was graded as intentional, low impact and high contact, resulting in a one-game ban.

Richmond champion Jack Riewoldt described Chol costing the Hawks a goal as a “cardinal sin”.

Mabior Chol has been handed a one-match ban. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images.

Minutes later, Chol gave away a free kick in attack for holding the ball and finished a tough day for Hawthorn with 10 disposals and a goal.

Hawthorn will now have to decide whether to challenge the ban, with any challenge likely to hinge on whether Chol did catch Gulden high and in the throat, or if the contact was more to the Swan’s chest.

The Hawks were without key target Mitch Lewis on Sunday after he was withdrawn from the Sydney game due to knee soreness and his replacement Max Ramsden was given the sub vest.

With Jack Gunston goalless, Chol was left to be Hawthorn’s main target upfront and Sam Mitchell swung defender Josh Weddle forward at one point against the Swans.

The Hawks could be short on tall timber for round 8’s match with the Western Bulldogs and All-Australian hopeful Liam Jones.

St Kilda will go to the tribunal on Tuesday to challenge the three-game ban handed to goalsneak Jack Higgins for his dangerous tackle on Port Adelaide defender Aliir Aliir.

DOG TO MISS, SAINTS TO CHALLENGE HIGGINS BAN

Bulldogs small forward Rhylee West will miss next week’s clash with Hawthorn after he was offered a one-game ban for a high shepherd on Fremantle’s Brandon Walker which sidelined the Docker with a SCAT 6 test before he returned.

St Kilda is expected to challenge Jack Higgins’ three-match suspension for a dangerous tackle as the clubs weighs up several players returning from injury.

Higgins was banned for dumping Port Adelaide’s Aliir Aliir into the ground in a dangerous tackle but the Saints will argue Aliir contributed to the incident by attempting to kick.

Ruckman Rowan Marshall is expected to be available for Saturday’s match against North Melbourne after a knee scare in the loss to the Power and Max King will attempt to prove his fitness after hurting his knee against GWS Giants a fortnight ago.

King is set to play if he can pass a fitness test later in the week after the issue lingered longer than expected last week.

Higgins has been offered a three-week ban. Picture: Getty Images

Former Roo Mason Wood will also push to play against North, while Jimmy Webster’s seven-match suspension for his high bump on Kangas’ Jy Simpkin will also end.

Wood could come straight back in to help bolster the club’s running power, while ex-Blue Paddy Dow could also play his first game for the club over the next fortnight after returning through the VFL.

HIGGINS INCIDENT DIVIDES FOOTY WORLD

– Glenn McFarlane

The contentious incident had footy fans and experts divided on whether Aliir’s kicking motion put him in a vulnerable position, but match review officer Michael Christian ruled that Higgins’ ‘careless’ action brought about the concussion.

The rough conduct charge saw Christian grade the act as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact, which resulted in the three-game sanction.

If Aliir had not been concussed, it would have been rated medium impact, cutting a week off the penalty.

But the Power defender failed to pass a SCAT 6 test soon after the incident, which was always going to put Higgins in danger of missing three weeks.

It’s yet another MRO blow for the Saints this season who have already lost a number of players to suspensions, including Jimmy Webster, Max King and Marcus Windhager.

Webster was banned for seven matches in the pre-season for his brutal bump on North Melbourne’s Jy Simpkin.

Webster’s ban is now over and he will be available to play next week against the Kangaroos, whether in the AFL or the VFL.

The Higgins incident had footy experts and fans debating whether Aliir contributed to the act by attempting to kick the ball while in motion.

Aliir held onto the ball in one hand as Higgins had his opponent’s other arm pinned when tackling him. Aliir’s feet left the ground as he tried to dispose of the ball before his head hit the ground.

The defender has been ruled out of next week’s Showdown and possibly for longer, given it is his second concussion within 12 months.

Fox Footy’s Dermott Brereton said he felt for Higgins, but conceded modern standards convinced him that the Saints’ forward had to be suspended.

“On current standards he is in massive trouble,” Brereton said on Fox Footy after the Power held on for a 10-point win over the Saints

“The standards of the competition are banning that, they are giving that a suspension.”

Aliir Aliir will miss next weekend’s Showdown. Picture: Getty Images

David King, who has been a strong advocate for protecting the players’ heads, said Higgins could have been cleared, given what led up to the incident.

“At no stage was he (Higgins) intending to dump him until Aliir put himself in some weird positioning to kick the ball,” King said on SEN.

“I don’t think he (Higgins) was trying to put him down on his head, but because he (Aliir) went for that kicking motion – he actually kicked the ball – he was in a vulnerable spot and there was no other option.

“He (Aliir) put himself into that position … I think he would be unlucky to be suspended in my opinion because there are mitigating circumstances. Every now and then you are going to have one of these.

“I can see reasons why it was more on Aliir than it was on Higgins.”

But former Crow Mark Bickley disagreed: “I just say if we are going to protect the head, and last year 30 players were concussed (in tackles), we cannot have this in the game, even if it was unlucky to have (Aliir’s) head driven into the ground.”

Originally published as Chol’s miserable Sunday extended after suspension, St Kilda expected to challenge Jack Higgins’ ban