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Port Adelaide star Dan Houston has been sent straight to the AFL Tribunal and is facing a lengthy suspension on the eve of the AFL finals for his high bump on Adelaide’s Izak Rankine.
Tensions boiled over in the Showdown when Houston laid out Rankine with a shirtfront during the third quarter of the Power’s fiery 11.14 (80) to 8.10 (58) victory at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.
Rankine was eventually helped to his feet and driven off the ground on a medical cart with concussion.
Houston’s hit was graded as careless conduct with severe impact and high contact by Match Review Officer Michael Christian, a ruling heavy enough to force a sanction to be determined at the Tribunal.
The hit carries a minimum sanction of four weeks, which would rule Houston out of at least finals, ending his season unless the Power, guaranteed a top-four finish courtesy of their win over the Crows, were to make the grand final after losing a qualifying final.
“To comment on that would be unfair,” Power coach Ken Hinkley said.
“Thoughts (are with) Izak first and foremost, and hopefully he’s OK.
“Dan is a very, very fair footballer. Split-second decisions, unfortunately, are right or wrong.
“We’ll let the people make those decisions that need to make those decisions.”
Houston seems certain to cop a hefty suspension for the incident, with Rankine himself receiving a four-match ban for an off-the-ball bump that concussed Brisbane’s Brandon Starcevich, while Sydney’s Luke Parker copped a six-match suspension in the VFL earlier in the season for a sickening bump that left Frankston player Josh Smith with both a concussion and serious facial injuries.
Speaking on Fox Footy after the match, former North Melbourne great David King suggested Houston’s ban could be even greater than either previous sanction.
“This is no longer part of our game,” King said.
“I don’t see how it can be less than Luke Parker – he went past the ball and got six… we’ve taken this action out of the game.
“The trauma was evident instantly. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s eight weeks. They’ll come down hard on this one.
“It’s a really poor look for the game.”
With Houston reportedly keenly pursuing a trade to a Melbourne-based club for 2025, despite remaining under contract at the Power, a suspension of five matches or more would guarantee the end of his season, and potentially end his time at the Power.
Speaking after the match, Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks conceded his side didn’t handle the Houston-Rankine flashpoint as well as they would have liked.
“It was a pretty good lesson for us in what it looks like when emotions are high and adrenaline is pumping,” Nicks said.
“Every person in the stadium would’ve felt it. We weren’t quite able to contain ourselves.”
Izak Rankine is knocked out by a late hit from Dan Houston. (Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)
Zak Butters (42 disposals, 10 clearances) and Connor Rozee (28, nine) starred as the Power locked in a top-four spot with their victory, earning a finals double-chance for the fourth time in five seasons.
The result also snapped Port’s three-match losing streak against the Crows and levelled the overall record between the South Australian rivals at 28-28.
Jason Horne Francis was influential with 23 disposals, eight clearances and two goals, while Willie Rioli (three), Francis Evans and Darcy Byrne-Jones (two each) also kicked multiple majors.
Butters, Rozee, Ollie Wines and ruckman Jordon Sweet led Port to a convincing 52-38 win in clearances.
“It’s satisfying because it puts us in a really good position for a season that we’ve worked damn hard for,” Hinkley said.
“In an up and down season we find ourselves in a reasonable position, but we’ve got to win again next week.”
Matt Crouch (29 touches), Jordan Dawson (26) and Rory Laird (24) were all busy for Adelaide as Rankine and Darcy Fogarty kicked two goals each.
The Crows led 6.6 to 4.9 at halftime but were held goalless in the third quarter and were out-scored seven goals to two in the second half.
Adelaide’s Josh Rachele lit the pre-match fuse on Adelaide radio when he claimed “Port supporters don’t have many teeth” and said he didn’t care if Power fans jeered him.
Rachele kicked a brilliant second-quarter goal and goaded the Port faithful by pointing to his teeth as he celebrated in their faces on the boundary line.
But Power fans in the 52,459-strong crowd had the last laugh, with their side now able to lock in a top-two spot with victory over Fremantle at Optus Stadium in the final match of the home-and-away season.
Adelaide will complete their year against ladder leaders Sydney at the SCG on Saturday night.
(with AAP)
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