North Melbourne young gun Paul Curtis has copped his second suspension of the season and will now face a one-match ban for his strike on St Kilda defender Angus Hastie, while teammate Cameron Zurhaar has been left without sanction.
Curtis swung his palm at Hastie in frustration after a goal was kicked during the first quarter of Sunday afternoon's clash, with the Match Review Officer determining that the 22-year-old's strike was intentional. It was graded as having low impact but high contact. Curtis cannot enter an early plea.
Unless North Melbourne challenges the charge at the tribunal, Curtis will now miss his fourth game of the season due to suspension, having been controversially rubbed out of three games after laying a dangerous tackle in Round 7 against Port Adelaide.
North Melbourne's Paul Curtis has received a one-match ban for striking St Kilda's Angus Hastie.
Full MRO findings: https://t.co/wVCBHnbSEP pic.twitter.com/736tJBjqOI
— AFL (@AFL) August 4, 2025
The MRO also explained an incident involving Cameron Zurhaar and Rowan Marshall in the second quarter. Zurhaar elected to bump Marshall with his shoulder as both approached an uncontested football, narrowly missing contact with Marshall's head.
"Based on the evidence available, it was the view of the MRO that Zurhaar makes negligible high contact (if any) with Marshall in the contest. No further action was taken," the MRO addressed in its release.
"So, so lucky"
Cam Zurhaar was inches away from disaster 🫣
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🔢 MATCH CENTRE https://t.co/5AR8UhPGgd pic.twitter.com/KN6vYCFSSt— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) August 3, 2025
Only one other player was charged from Sunday's action, Geelong star defender Tom Stewart, after he was involved in an incident with Port Adelaide midfielder Ollie Wines. Stewart attempted to deflect a handball from Wines by jumping and collided with Wines on the way down.
Tom Stewart was involved in this incident with Ollie Wines. pic.twitter.com/4oJAbSA6Bs
— AFL (@AFL) August 3, 2025
The MRO charged Stewart with rough conduct, grading the incident as having careless conduct, high contact but low impact. He has been handed a $3000 fine, which can be downgraded to $2000 with an early plea.






