The AFL Match Review Officer handed down five total sanctions from Saturday's eventful slate of games, headlined by contentious bans for Port Adelaide's Willie Rioli, West Coast's Sam Petrevski-Seton, and Hawthorn's Ned Reeves, following separate incidents.
Rioli, who just returned from a brief absence, is set to spend a stint on the sidelines after he was delivered a two-match ban by Michael Christian for striking Collingwood defender Nathan Murphy off the ball on Saturday evening at Adelaide Oval.
Amid debate from either side of the ledger, Christian deemed Rioli's act to be intentional, with medium impact and high contact, resulting in the verdict of a two-match absence.
With this weekend's Showdown and Geelong to come on Port's schedule, Rioli's act is set to be a particularly costly one as the Power jostles for top-four seeding.
Per an official announcement on Monday, Port Adelaide will challenge the two-match ban offered to Rioli at the Tribunal.
Petrevski-Seton, meanwhile, was imposed a two-game ban for a dangerous tackle he committed against Carlton's Alex Cincotta โ for a second time this season โ at Marvel Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The MRO deemed the tackle justified a grading of high impact, with Cincotta being slammed to the turf after his right arm was pinned.
The Eagles have accepted Petrevski-Seton's suspension, meaning he will miss upcoming matches against North Melbourne and Essendon.
Hawks ruckman Reeves was hit with a one-match sanction for a dangerous tackle he committed on Richmond's Ivan Soldo at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.
Reeves' aggressive tackle, adjudged to cause medium impact, along with careless conduct and high contact, resulted in a free kick awarded to Soldo, who made considerable contact with the MCG turf after one of his arms was pinned in the bear-hug.
Hawthorn's acceptance of Reeves' one-game ban means he will miss this Sunday's clash with St Kilda.
The other two charges laid by Christian on Sunday were fines, with Port Adelaide defender Kane Farrell slapped with a $1000 fine for misconduct after shoving Pies forward Bobby Hill towards and over the Adelaide Oval fence, while Geelong's Tyson Stengle was charged $2000 for striking Brisbane skipper Dayne Zorko.
It is not yet known whether or not Port Adelaide, West Coast, or Hawthorn will elect to challenge the respective sanctions handed down by the MRO on Sunday.
Very “indicative”.
On TV I clearly saw Viney looking directly into Nankirvis’s face (who was underneath in a stoppage) while he (Viney) rose and then fall on his elbow – into Nankirvis’s neck.
But then the first four “dropping the ball” of the game (all by Melbourne players) were NOT paid – and directly after these four, the first “dropping the ball” by a Crows player was instantly penalised.
……. I wonder if there’s a reason why the umpires “cannot” be criticized, questioned or otherwise held to account????