Marlion Pickett cop bans after Round 16 of the 2024-25 NTFL season
Richmond premiership star Marlion Pickett has faced the music at the NTFL tribunal after being charged with head-butting another former AFL star. His penalty has been handed down.
Former Richmond player Marlion Pickett will miss just the first week of the NTFL finals after his potential four-week ban for head-butting and kicking Steven Motlop was halved.
The incident occurred during the Round 16 match between Pickett’s Tiwi Bombers and Motlop’s Southern Districts, which the latter side won to cement the minor premiership.
Motlop was originally charged for an incident with Tiwi’s Scott Bedford in the lead-up to the fiery three quarter time incident with Pickett.
However, the former Port Adelaide and Geelong player’s charge was dismissed at the NTFL tribunal following the match.
Pickett’s charge was deferred for a further week and heard on Wednesday night at the tribunal.
His original charges of kicking and head-butting Motlop would have seen him banned for four weeks, or three with an early guilty plea.
That would have meant the player who set the nation alight when he made his AFL debut in the 2017 final would have missed Round 17 and potentially three weeks of finals.
However, his charge of kicking was dismissed and the head-butting resulted in a two week ban from Round 17 onward.
Pickett had already missed Round 17 at the time of the tribunal so he has only one week remaining, either the qualifying final or elimination final.
Earlier: AFL grand final hero banned for headbutting, kicking
Richmond premiership hero Marlion Pickett is facing a four-week ban after being charged with head-butting and kicking another former AFL star, Steven Motlop, at a three quarter time break in a game in Darwin.
The incident occurred moments after Motlop was involved in a separate incident which has also seen him suspended for two matches.
Motlop had made unreasonable or unnecessary contact with the face of Tiwi’s Scott Bedford prior to the incident.
The Northern Territory Football League has slapped Pickett with a four week ban, which he can have reduced to just three with an early guilty plea.
This means Pickett could miss the first two weeks of finals for the Tiwi Bombers and the ban could also delay his planned local footy debut in Melbourne where he has signed to play for Melton South in the Riddell District Football League.
Pickett, who is still facing criminal charges in Western Australia over alleged commercial burglaries worth more than $350,000, has emerged as a leader in the Tiwi outfit since joining the side at the start of the 2024-25 NTFL season after his AFL career came to an end.
He’s helped bring success to the young outfit building off his experience at the Tigers where he became the first player to make his debut in a winning grand final.
That 2019 grand final debut came within a week of being awarded the Norm Goss Memorial Medal in the VFL grand final win against Williamstown.
He went on to make a big impression in the AFL grand final and became a two time premiership player in 2020.
Motlop was also charged after being found to make unreasonable or unnecessary contact with the face of Tiwi’s Scott Bedford.
The incident took place before three quarter time and was deemed intentional conduct with low impact and high contact.
Motlop was originally given a two week suspension, which he could have had downgraded to just one with an early guilty plea, meaning he would miss this week’s match against Wanderers.
That charge has since been dismissed.
Elsewhere, both St Mary’s and PINT have been fined for engaging in a melee during their match at TIO Stadium.
The incident took place during the fourth quarter of the match that St Mary’s ended up winning.
Both clubs were fined $375, but could have had it reduced to $273 with an early guilty plea.
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Originally published as Marlion Pickett cop bans after Round 16 of the 2024-25 NTFL season
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