St Kilda draftee Alixzander Tauru has been given flexibility for his four-week VFL suspension by the AFL as the upheld ban saw scrutiny from the Saints for its result.
Tauru was suspended for a rough conduct charge in VFL-affiliate Sandringham's match against Brisbane, where the 18-year-old gave a high bump to Lion Curtis McCarthy.
McCarthy suffered a concussion as a result of the incident and was seemingly knocked out on impact from Tauru's hit. The key defender was charged with a four-match ban, however given the Zebras have two bye weeks before the completion of their next four games, Tauru's charge effectively extends to six weeks of unavailability for the AFL.
The result caused senior Saints coach Ross Lyon to attack the VFL's fixturing and Tribunal's verdict, saying that the result was an "incredible disappointment" for St Kilda.
"Well, is it four or is it six weeks? We're incredibly disappointed. I'm really frustrated. It talks to a broken system," Lyon said.
"We've already had one bye, we're having another one this week. I just don't understand the human side... So we've got a first-year top 10 draft pick, that if you think the penalty is four weeks, that's okay, but they know we've got a bye and then at the end of that, there's another bye. So, how the Tribunal doesn't take into consideration that it is six weeks?"
Lyon took aim at the AFL for their response to Noah Balta's criminal charge in the matter too, comparing how Tauru's punishment for an act on a football field exceeded that of an assault charge.
"Noah Balta got four weeks stand down for an assault off the field... with respect," Lyon said.
"We got a kid that concussed a player, but it's a six-week penalty. There's just no consideration, as Paul Roosย would say, 'common sense is commonly uncommon', so I'm filthy."
A win for St Kilda.
Laura Kane has approved under exceptional circumstances that Alix Tauruโs four-match VFL ban can start this weekend with Sandringhamโs practice match against the Tassie rep team.
Will be available AFL R12 / VFL R10@7NewsMelbourne
— Mitch Cleary (@cleary_mitch) May 1, 2025
However, the Saints and Tauru have been offered some reprieve by the AFL, with Laura Kane approving that Sandringham's scratch match against the Tasmanian representative team this weekend will count towards the suspension, according to 7News' Mitch Cleary.
With this allowance "under exceptional circumstances", Tauru can make a return sooner, with that to be in Round 12 in the AFL, or the VFL's Round 10.
Tauru has yet to debut this season after dealing with a stress injury in his back to begin his AFL career.
