Collingwood's Jordan De Goey has been handed a three-game suspension at the AFL Tribunal for rough conduct.

The AFL's Match Review Officer referred De Goey directly to the Tribunal for his bump on West Coast's Elijah Hewett, with the incident graded as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact and viewed as a suspension worth at least three matches.

Hewett was unable to continue in Saturday's match after failing a head injury assessment and sustaining a concussion as a result of the collision.

The three-game suspension will see De Goey miss upcoming matches against Melbourne, Adelaide and Gold Coast.

Legal counsel:
Andrew Woods (AFL)
Stephen Russell (Collingwood)

Jury:
Jeff Gleeson (Chair), Stewart Loewe, Jordan Bannister

De Goey suspended for three games

The AFL Tribunal has determined the length of Jordan De Goey's to be three matches. He will be unavailable for selection until Round 17, missing games against Melbourne, Adelaide and Gold Coast.ย 

Summation:ย 

"The penalty is a matter to be determined in our discretion. But we are mindful of the need for consistency of table penalties for the prior classifiable offences.

"That table provides this combination of gradings results in a sanction of 'three plus matches'. We take into account the following factors in particular:

"1. There was considerable force in the bump both due to the speed at which Hewett was moving, and the acceleration of De Goey

"2. Hewett suffered a concussion

"3. Hewett had disposed of the ball immediately before he was bumped.

"4. The bump was late, but due to the speed of which both players were moving, it was a split second. We find that the breach of the duty of care was clear, but not egregious.

"5. De Goey has expressed remorse and as consider this to be genuine.

"6. De Goey has accepted that the impact was severe.

"In all the circumstances we do not consider the matter requires a higher sanction than the three weeks based sanction that applies to this grade. This was another head injury that was avoidable.

"A three-month match sanction is an appropriate sanction for this careless rough conduct."

- Tribunal Chair Jeff Gleeson

5:45:ย The jury has begun to deliberate. A verdict is incoming.

5:42:ย Russell highlights an incident from the 2021 season where Patrick Dangerfield was handed a three-game suspension for a bump on Adelaide's Jake Kelly. Kelly was left with a concussion and a facial fracture from the incident. Russell argued the extent of damage was not comparable with the De Goey case.

5:40: Russell: "It's a great benefit to the Tribunal that a player comes through the process and accepts the charge."

5:36: Russell suggests the Broad comparison comes under "completely differentย circumstances".

Rusell argues Broad had time to release his grip in the tackle and could have refrained from the double actions that were involved in the tackle.

5:34:ย Russell notes the widespread publicity in the media of the De Goey incident has already added to the "overall extent of the punishment".

5:33: Russell: "De Goey didn't launch himself, he didn't even have the opportunity to do so if he wanted to."

5:25: "A split second before coming into contact with Jordy he has been able to get a handball off. There's a split second for De Goey to tackle the ball, that opportunity is gone in a split second.

"It's a football action, and he's done it incorrectly. He's only got a split second to change (his actions)."

Russell suggests the De Goey incident isn't comparable with that of McAdam's: "(McAdam) launched himself."

5:22: Stephen Russell (Collingwood): The grading of 'severe' impact could have been argued, however the club decided to accept the plea as guilty, showing De Goey's remorse for the situation and Hewett.

5:16:ย The AFL has asked to show footage of an incident from this year that saw Adelaide's Shade McAdam charged for rough conduct for a bump on GWS player Jacob Wehr. That incident was graded as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact - the same as De Goey's.

Wehr did not sustain a concussion from that bump.

Woods: "Where you have an action that's similar with no injury, that can be three weeks. But here (De Goey's) we have a serious injury."

The AFL has also asked to show an incident from this year where Richmond's Nathan Broad was charged with rough conduct for a dangerous tackle on Adelaide's Patrick Parnell.

Woods touched on the duty of care AFL players have for one another at the contest when going over the Broad case. Broad was suspended for four matches.

5:11:ย Andrew Woods (AFL): "The actions are enough to attract a four-match sanction."

Woods on Hewett suffering a concussion: "That's a very strong indicator (for why four games more than a three-game ban warranted).

"(De Goey) turns, he flexes, he raises his shoulder, and his feet leave the ground at one point. All of those aspects of this conductย increase the likelihood of a reportable offence.

Woods argues the collision could have led to a broken jaw or broken bones to Hewett.

5:07: De Goey on the incident: "I felt quite remorseful. I don't go out there to play in a dirty way.

"Directly after the game I followed up with Shannon Hurn and asked if Elijah was still on the bench. He had already gone down to the rooms. I followed up and got Elijah's number, and proceeded to send an apology text message.

"He was appreciative of the text message."

5:05: West Coast's medical report on Hewett confirms ongoing concussion testing has taken place, with the expected missed period for Hewett set in line with the league's concussion protocols

5:00pm: Collingwood are pleading guilty to the rough conduct charge, accepting a three-game suspension.

The AFL are arguing that the length of De Goey's suspension should be at least four weeks.

If De Goey is banned for four weeks, he would be unavailable for his side's Round 17 clash with the Western Bulldogs.