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Western Bulldogs defender Liam Jones is free to play the elimination final, after the star defender miraculously escaped suspension for his dangerous tackle on GWS forward Aaron Cadman.
Jones was penalised for the tackle just 18 seconds into Sunday’s 37-point win over the Giants at Ballarat’s Mars Stadium.
When Cadman took possession inside 50, Jones pinned his right arm and drove him into the ground, slamming the forward’s head on the turf.
Cadman’s teammates immediately rushed in to remonstrate with Jones, while the forward was given a free kick for a dangerous tackle.
Cadman kicked a goal from the free kick and was able to remain on the ground.
Debate has since raged over whether Jones deserved to be suspended, which would have denied him the chance to play both his first career final and his 200th game.
And it seems a uncertainty of whether Cadman’s head hit the ground during the tackle has saved the veteran, Jones escaping with a fine.
Christian graded the incident as careless conduct with high contact, but only ‘low’ impact, rather than the usual ‘medium’ given to dangerous tackles.
He’d pay the $2500 fine for an early guilty plea every day of the week, though, given it frees him to play in next Friday night’s sudden-death clash with the Hawks.
Jones has played 104 games at the Bulldogs across two stints, either side of 95 games for Carlton. He sat out the 2022 season because he did not want to receive a COVID-19 vaccination.
Speaking on SEN on Monday morning, former greats Kane Cornes and Nathan Buckley were adamant Jones shouldn’t miss a final for the incident, but given the league’s established precedent on tackles where an opponent’s head hit the ground, believed a suspension was inevitable.
The tackle bears distinct similarities to one on Fremantle’s Hayden Young which saw Giants defender Lachie Ash cop a one-week suspension in Round 23, with the club unsuccessfully challenging the sanction at the AFL Tribunal.
“There’s no way in the world Liam Jones should be missing a final for a tackle like that,” Cornes said.
“But unfortunately, the AFL have made their own bed, and there is no way he can be let off. They’re going to have to suspend him.
“The Western Bulldogs will take that to the Tribunal and you can look at whether the head hit the ground.
“There’s no way he should miss a final for that, but the AFL have no option but to suspend him.”
Liam Jones. (Photo by Will Russell/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
However, the news isn’t as good for Carlton small forward Matthew Owies, who has been hit with a one-match ban for his own dangerous tackle on St Kilda’s Jack Higgins.
Owies pinned Higgins’ arm and drove him into the turf during the final quarter of the Blues’ thrilling loss on Sunday afternoon, with Christian grading the incident medium impact as well as careless conduct and high contact – triggering a one-match ban that will sideline him for a crunch elimination final against Brisbane at the Gabba, pending a likely Blues appeal at the AFL Tribunal.
(with AAP)
Melbourne will head to the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday night in an attempt to clear star forward Kysaiah Pickett for the opening rounds of the 2024 season.
Pickett was handed a three-match suspension for a controversial bump that concussed Collingwood captain Darcy Moore during the Demons’ season-ending defeat on Friday night.
Match Review Officer Michael Christian graded the incident as careless conduct with severe impact and high contact, though many, including Fox Footy commentator and former great Jordan Lewis, believed the injury to Moore was caused by him going to ground rather than anything in Pickett’s control.
“I think Darcy Moore contributes… I get that he’s been concussed, but as Kozzie Pickett’s coming in, he can’t foresee Darcy Moore going to ground the way that he did,” Lewis said on Friday night.
“Keep your feet, and he’s not concussed.”
Should the suspension be upheld, it will be Pickett’s fourth ban in his last 44 games, having been rubbed out earlier this season for a high elbow on Adelaide’s Jake Soligo, for the Demons’ first game of 2024 after a high bump on Carlton’s Patrick Cripps in their semi-final loss last year, and for two rounds in early 2023 for a brutal hit on Western Bulldog Bailey Smith.
The AFL have locked in starting times and dates for week 1 of the finals, after a dramatic home-and-away season came to an end on Sunday night.
Beginning on Thursday, September five, Port Adelaide will do battle with Geelong at the Adelaide Oval for the right to host a preliminary final; before Friday night features an MCG blockbuster between the Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn, with the victor to face the loser of the Power and Cats.
For the fourth time, Sydney and crosstown rivals GWS will face one another under the September lights, with their clash at the SCG scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 3:20pm (AEST).
That evening, the loser’s semi final opponent will be sorted when Brisbane host Carlton at the Gabba in a cutthroat elimination final.
The Bulldogs-Hawks elimination final is the only week-one final in Victoria, with the four games to be played in different states.
However, according to Nine’s Tom Morris, the club is disappointed to be handed the Friday night fixture, which causes a clash with their AFLW team’s first home match of the season at the newly developed Whitten Oval.
“I can tell you what, we’ll be going hard,” Blues coach Michael Voss said of his side’s encounter with the Lions, which could see a score of star players including spearheads Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay return from injury.
“We’ll get ourselves prepared and we’ll pick ourselves up and we’ll go again.
“A new season begins and we’ve seen many a time where teams have been able to sneak their way in through different avenues and been able to do something.”
In week two, the loser of Port Adelaide-Geelong will host the winner of the Bulldogs-Hawthorn clash. The loser of Sydney-GWS will host the winner of Brisbane-Carlton. Venues and times for week two will be confirmed at the conclusion of week one.
(with AAP)
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Carlton veteran Sam Docherty is on the cusp of a miraculous return on the eve of the Blues’ finals campaign.
The 30-year old, who made an emotional AFL return in early 2022 after beating cancer, hasn’t played since the Blues’ Opening Round win over Brisbane, having suffered a ruptured ACL in that match that looked certain to end his season.
However, 26 weeks on, Docherty is reportedly closing in on a comeback 26 weeks on from the injury, coincidentally at the same venue – the Gabba – and against the same opponent as in his last AFL match, having returned to training in recent weeks.
He was coy when asked about his chances by Channel 7’s Alistair Nicholson before the Blues’ thrilling Round 24 loss to St Kilda, but left the possibility of a remarkable return open.
“We’ll see how we go today before we make that call,” he said.
“[I’m] Training in a really good position at the moment, so we’ll see.”
Docherty’s return would be the second miraculous finals comeback from a serious knee injury seen in recent seasons, with former Collingwood defender Tyson Goldsack named for all four of the Magpies’ finals in 2018 after suffering a partially ruptured ACL in March of that year.
A police investigation is underway at Marvel Stadium and a lifetime ban all but certain after a member of the crowd in Carlton’s clash with St Kilda threw a water bottle at a goal umpire.
Steven Piperno was forced from the field with a bloodied head after the disgraceful act midway through the second quarter of the Blues’ must-win clash, and was replaced by reserve goal umpire Chelsea Roffey.
The fan is yet to be identified, with a report from Fox Footy’s Jon Ralph that the fan was not a member of Carlton’s cheersquad despite the projectile having been thrown near their area behind the goals, and that he exited the arena shortly after the act.
His identity is expected to be confirmed by the many cameras stationed around the stadium.
“That is just completely unacceptable,” Channel Seven commentator Alistair Nicholson said.
“That is just an absolute disgrace,” added Brian Taylor.
“There’s no room for that anywhere in any of our games.
“There’s quite a lot of blood been drawn out of the back of the scone there.”
The AFL has long taken a hardline stance against fans overstepping their boundaries from the stadium, with a Collingwood supporter handed a 12-month ban, with six of those suspended, for hugging West Coast debutant Harvey Johnston in a match at Marvel Stadium earlier this year.
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