Geelong's James Parsons and Sam Menegola have been handed suspensions by the MRP which both involved former Hawthorn skipper Luke Hodge.
Rookie, Parsons, was offered a two-match ban after he clipped Hodge's jaw with a stray elbow. The MRP graded the action as medium impact to the head, and was classified as an intentional hit. On AFL 360, Cats coach Chris Scott stated that he believed Parsons intended to bump Hodge to impact his kick, but found himself in the wrong position, bumping his head and not his body. Midfielder, Menegola, was offered a one-match ban after he laid a dangerous tackle, also on the former Hawks captain. The MRP graded the action as "careless" when he swung Hodge around and slammed him into the turf. Despite receiving medium impact to his head in the tackle, Hodge managed to play out the rest of the game at the MCG. Hawks veteran Josh Gibson has avoided suspension after a bump on Tom Ruggles that resulted in a head clash. The MRP stated that the incident was not "unreasonable in the circumstances" because Gibson made body-to-body contact to sheppard Ruggles away from an opposition player. "It was the view of the Panel that the degree of force in Gibson's block was not excessive for the situation," the MRP stated. "Gibson did not run a long distance to support his teammate and Gibson did not jump or leave the ground to make contact with his Geelong opponent." Parsons and Menegola will miss the clash against St Kilda on Sunday at Etihad Stadium, but Gibson will be available to play West Coast on Sunday at the MCG.
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Hawthorn have begun their 2017 season with a 0-4 win/loss ratio; their worst start to a season since 1998. After an 86-point loss to Geelong on Easter Monday, Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson has described his team's performance as "rubbish", but he still believes that they, as a club, can come back from a horror start to the season.
The thumping from the Cats comes only a week after the Hawks were defeated by the Suns by the same margin of 86-points. A team that once seemed invincible with three consecutive premierships, now sit at the bottom of the ladder. Despite the winless streak, Clarkson remains positive that Hawthorn will bounce back. "I don't know whether it's going to come next week, or [in] three weeks. I'm hoping like hell it's not a whole season of this sort of rubbish we're playing at the minute, but what we do know is that it's going to be hard to keep us down for a long, long period of time," Clarkson said. "This is the most significant down we've had for a long time as a footy club. Whether it's our supporters, our members, coaches, admin people, players - we've all got to band together and fight our way through what's a pretty tough time for a club." Although they are known for their sharp ball use and easy scoring opportunities, Hawthorn's decreasing performance rate is a result of simple mistakes such as poor kicking and easy turnovers. Clarkson said that the team seems to be "devoid of confidence" after an era of dominance in the competition. "Our skill level is just nowhere near the level [required]. Some of our players, you'd think they were different players, and that can come and go with footy." "We know these guys have got the quality and have been able to produce good football, but right at the present time the cohesion amongst our group is nowhere near as strong as it should be." Hawthorn play West Coast at the MCG on Sunday. The Match Review Panel has assessed eight of the nine games of round 4 and have handed out fines and a one-match suspension this week.
Kangaroos skipper Jack Ziebell has avoid suspension after heavily colliding with Bulldogs forward Travis Cloke and breaking his ribs. The bump by Ziebell, which occurred on Friday night for the first Good Friday AFL match, found Cloke leaving the field with only minutes to spare in the final term. Once the game concluded, the former Collingwood premiership star was taken to hospital where scans confirmed that Cloke had broken ribs and would miss up to six weeks. Despite the injury sustained, the MRP ruled the incident as "reasonable in the circumstances". Ziebell's bump was deemed as "legal" due to the fact that the captain did not make high contact while trying to impact Cloke's kick. "Ziebell makes body contact to Cloke but there was no forceful high contact made to the Western Bulldogs' player," the Panel stated. Giants forward Toby Greene was offered a $1000 fine after striking Port Adelaide player Dan Houston on Saturday at UNSW Canberra Oval. Because Greene was not looking at Houston when his arm swung back and hit him, the incident was deemed as careless, with low impact to the head. West Coast forward Mark LeCras was also offered a $1000 fine after a high bump on Sydney defender Aliir Aliir during the Thursday night clash at Domain Stadium. The incident was graded as low impact to the head, which saw LeCras escaping a one-match suspension. Essendon half-back Conor McKenna, however, was unlucky after copping a one-match ban for a front-on bump on Adelaide's Riley Knight, on Saturday night. The incident was graded as medium impact and careless, with the suspension being ruled due to high contact. The Western Bulldogs have been hit hard with injuries once again, after Tom Boyd and Travis Cloke were involved in hard-hitting contests.
Boyd, 21, clashed with North's Scott Thompson during the first quarter and left the field. He was assessed during quarter time and sat out the rest of the game with a delayed concussion. It was initially suspected that Boyd had sustained a fractured cheekbone or eye socket, with dark bruising forming on his left cheek. Cloke, 30, was hit hard in the middle of the chest by Roo's captain Jack Ziebell during the final term. With six minutes remaining, the former Collingwood premiership star struggled to leave the field while appearing to be in obvious pain. After the conclusion of the game, Cloke was taken to hospital where scans revealed that he had sustained broken ribs that will see the star forward on the sidelines for 4-6 weeks. Boyd will be assessed later in the week to determine whether he will line up against the Brisbane Lions next Saturday, at Etihad Stadium. The first Good Friday match took place with a total attendance of 42,814, but the competitive game between the Bulldogs and the Kangaroos, as well as fundraising efforts of both clubs arguably made the match a success.
While the AFL expected a total crowd attendance of at least 45,000, AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan said before the match that a crowd attendance above 41,000 would be a success, to which it was. However, despite the crowd numbers, McLachlan remained a little uncertain of whether the match would become permanently set on the fixture, saying that it was "something to build on and grow into an asset for the League and the community and hopefully for these clubs". North Melbourne players donated $10,000 to the Good Friday Appeal prior to the match taking place, doubling the amount they donated to the Royal Children's Hospital last year. McDonald's announced that they would donate $1000 every time a goal was scored from either side, making their donation tally over $19,000. The match was intense, with the lead changing at least five times in the final quarter. Other than being an important day for donations, it was also a match of milestones. Lindsay Thomas played his 200th game for the Roos, almost kicking a goal that would have seen his side win, but a fairytale finish did not occur, as the kick was too wide and resulted in a behind. Travis Cloke played his 250th game, though a clash with Roos captain Jack Ziebell saw him leaving the field with six minutes remaining. He was taken to hospital where scans revealed that the former Collingwood premiership player sustained broken ribs and will miss 4-6 weeks. After an intense match with tight scoring, it seemed to be a success that would see it return in the future. Do you think the North Melbourne v Western Bulldogs game should become an annual event? Sound off in the comments below. |
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