Essendon midfielder Dylan Shiel will miss next week's clash with St Kilda after the Tribunal found him guilty of dangerously shoving Geelong's Mark O'Connor into a marking contest, which caused a scary in-air collision involving teammate Luamon Lual.
Shiel was sent directly to the Tribunal for the second quarter incident, given the complexity of the collision.
The Match Review Officer (MRO) didn't grade the incident, but explained the following day, whilst revealing the AFL was seeking a one-match suspension.
"The AFL's view is that a suspension of one match is the appropriate penalty having regard to both the impact to O'Connor and the significant potential that Shiel's teammate, Luamon Lual, could have suffered a serious head or neck injury arising from Shiel's unreasonable conduct, which caused Lual's head and neck to make contact with the ground with force," the MRO wrote.
Dylan Shiel has been referred directly to the Tribunal for this incident involving Luamon Lual and Mark O'Connor. pic.twitter.com/OezfJR9rX0
— AFL (@AFL) August 9, 2025
"In this respect, the Laws of Australian Football state that a player owes a duty of care to all other players, not just their opponents."
Shiel revealed to the tribunal he was initially unaware of how Lual got injured as his eyes remained on the ball during the contest as he attempted to outbody a bigger opponent.
Ben Ihle, representing Essendon, outlined reasons it wasn't a reportable offence: other players had cleared the space initially, Shiel's eyes were on the ball, Shiel is trained to protect the drop zone of the ball, O'Connor was not pushed into the contest and there is no high contact to O'Connor.
The AFL argued that the Shiel's actions went beyond that of a reasonable player due to the force of the contact and given the push was in the direction of the path of the ball and oncoming players.
The tribunal outlined reasons for its determination.
"Shiel breached his duty of care by pushing O'Connor in the way he did and in the circumstances," Tribunal chair Renee Enbom said.
"We do not accept that Shiel had eyes on the ball at all relevant times and did not see other players in position to contest the mark.
"The evidence is not supported by the vision of the incident.
"Vision captures Shiel looking in the direction of the oncoming players at the time he pushed O'Connor.
"Even if Shiel did not see the other players, it was careless of him to push O'Connor when he should have reasonably expected that other players would likely be positioning to contest the mark given the length of time the ball was in the air."
O'Connor's vulnerability was another reason provided for the sanction.
"He had no or little control over himself," Enbom said.
"He catapulted forward and collided heavily with Lual.
"Lual's body was flung into the air, which reveals the force with which they collided.
"While O'Connor was not injured, we consider that the circumstances of the push were so dangerous that therte was significant potential for injury to O'Connor.
"Had Lual's body position in the marking contest been slightly different at the time of impact, O'Connor's head or face could have made forceful contact with Lual's hip or knee, causing O'Connor a serious injury.
"The potential for a concussion or facial injury was real."
Shiel will miss Thursday's clash against St Kilda, before being available for selection against Carlton in the Bombers' penultimate game of the season.
