Geelong's Tom Stewart has a nervous wait after he collided with Port Adelaide's Ollie Wines in his attempts to smother the ball.
During Sunday's clash at GMHBA Stadium, Stewart can be seen leaving the ground to close the ball, but failed to make an impact. He then landed on Wines, hitting him high and causing the umpire to award a free kick to the Power.
The incident quickly reminded onlookers of Brayden Maynard's collision with Melbourne's Angus Brayshaw in the 2023 qualifying final.
"His only intention was to play the ball."
🗣️ Nick Riewoldt on this incident involving Tom Stewart and Ollie Wines pic.twitter.com/FO73db3Dki
— 7AFL (@7AFL) August 3, 2025
Maynard had collected the Demons midfielder, who suffered a concussion and was ultimately retired after multiple head knocks throughout his career.
The Pies defender wasn't penalised for the act, but caused havoc among the AFL community given the outcome for Melbourne and Brayshaw.
If the Match Review Officer (MRO) deem Stewart's attempts to smother the ball were careless contact and medium impact, he could be looking at a one-week suspension.
If it's low impact, it will be a fine.
Wines did resume play, which will work in favour of Geelong and Stewart.
Cats coach Chris Scott was "confident" in his post-match address that the star defender would be cleared.
"You're not like a magic bullet where you can change your trajectory in the air, but you do have to mitigate the damage to the other player if you can," Scott said.
"I thought he just fell on top of him, so yeah, I'm very confident that he'd be OK.
"We're in an environment now where if anyone gets concussed, we're looking for someone to pay.
"That's why you have to be so careful. I'm not arguing that's the wrong way to think about it."
