West Coast star Harley Reid will miss the first two games of 2027 after West Coast failed to overturn his two-game ban at the AFL tribunal.
The Eagles had sought to downgrade the impact of his tackle on Jai Newcombe from high to medium which would have reduced the ban from two matches to one, but the appeal was unsuccessful.
Reid did not give evidence, with the Eagles relying on a Billy Frampton's tackle on Matt Whitlock earlier in 2026 where his appeal was successful, but the AFL argued it was impossible for Newcombe to meaningfully brace for impact.
"We find that the impact was high. After Newcombe partially broke through the tackle, Reid grabbed the back of Newcombe's guernsey and slung him with what appears to be all his might across his body and into the ground," the tribunal chair said.
"The distance over which Newcombe's body gained momentum was considerable, moving from upright in a wide arc, ultimately with his head slamming into the ground. It is true that Newcombe's backside and back made contact with the ground first, but this did not reduce the velocity with which his head hit the ground.
"He did not release the guernsey at any stage and there is no indication in the video that he attempted to slow momentum. We reject the submission that Newcombe lifted his head off the turf, and that his head did not bounce off the turf.
"The video shows that it did, it bounced sharply. It was submitted that Newcombe could have braced for impact more effectively if he had not held the ball and attempted to handball. We are not satisfied that this touches the causation issue. The momentum was such that there was little that a player being slung backwards could do to prevent his head slinging into the ground.
"As it was, he managed to put both arms down to some extent at or prior to the moment of impact, and this did virtually nothing to reduce the force of his head hitting the ground. Other examples of Frampton on Whitlock and Newcombe on Richards were discussed. They were both very different tackles to this. Neither was a sling tackle.
"We consider that the impact here was considerably greater than in those tackles. In both of those cases, there was something of a reduction in impact as a result of the knee and/or shoulder absorbing some of the momentum.
"Neither Whitlock nor Richards' head hit the ground with anything like the force that occurred here. Richards was completely unfazed by the impact, and Whitlock only momentarily touched his head. Here, Newcombe stayed down for a considerable period of time, was clearly in pain, and was shaken by the incident, and was in the hands of the doctor for a period of time before taking his kick.
"Yes, he then kicked the goal and played well for the remainder of the game. Yes, the HIA has established that he did not suffer a concussion, but such was the force of the tackle we consider it surprising that he did not. The potential for injury was obvious."
