AFL Match Review Panel – Round 5, 2012

After what looked like a quiet week at the Match Review Panel last week and it wasn’t. This looks like a big week with four possible cases just out of a battle between Andrew Raines of the Lions and Joel Selwood of the Cats.

There is the incidents above but Raines could also be in trouble for a bump and another incident before these ones. If Selwood was to go for an intentional hit, he would likely miss two weeks thanks to the slap that caused Brent Guerra a busted ear drum that saw Selwood miss 4 weeks and hence wear a 40% loading and 25 point carry over. There is a better then average chance that he may have no case to answer due to the level of force involved.

Other incidents that could be looked at:

• Karmichael Hunt and Andrew Swallow could have knee contact too each other looked at by the MRP
• Will Schofield could be looked at for a rabbit punch on Jack Riewoldt that saw him lose his lunch
• Taylor Walker could be victim to the MRP’s favorite issue of the moment for his knee first slide into Jacob Surjan

UPDATES

• There were no match day reports from the weekends matches.
• Mon 5:30pm: Decisions in.  Selwood no case, Veszpremi a repremand, Raines 3 weeks down to 1 week, Montagna 2 weeks, Schofield 2 weeks and Walker repremand. Full list of charges below.
• Mon 6:19pm: Two further charges have been laid on the back of AFL investigations. Fine for Westoff and a suspension for Daniel Jackson. Details below.
• Mon 11pm: Video of the MRP decision added
• Tues 11:05am: Leigh Montagna has decided to challenge his report.
• Tues 11:25am: All other findings have been accepted.
• Tues 3:20pm: AFL legal council has withdrawn the charge against Montagna. He is free to play!

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AFL Tribunal, Tuesday May 1:

Leigh Montagna, St Kilda, has been charged with a Level Three striking offence against James Magner, Melbourne, during the first quarter of the Round Five match between St Kilda and Melbourne, played at the MCG on Saturday April 28, 2012.

Based on the video evidence available and a medical report from the Melbourne Football Club, the incident was assessed as reckless conduct (two points), medium impact (two points) and high contact (two points). This is a total of six activation points, resulting in a classification of a Level Three offence, drawing 225 demerit points and a two-match sanction. He has an existing bad record of one match suspended within the last three years, increasing the penalty by 10 per cent to 247.50 points. He also has 64.06 demerit points carried over from within the last 12 months, increasing the penalty to 311.56 points and a three-match sanction.

Sanctions Accepted:

Patrick Veszpremi, Western Bulldogs, has accepted a reprimand and 93.75 points towards his future record for misconduct for making contact with his head to Tomas Bugg, GWS Giants, during the fourth quarter of the Round Five match between the Western Bulldogs and the GWS Giants, played at Manuka Oval on Saturday April 28, 2012.

Kyal Horsley, Gold Coast Suns, has accepted a $900 sanction for making negligent contact with an umpire (Heath Ryan), during the first quarter of the Round Five match between the Gold Coast Suns and North Melbourne, played at Etihad Stadium on Saturday April 28, 2012.

Andrew Raines, Brisbane Lions, has accepted a one-match sanction for striking Joel Selwood, Geelong Cats, during the fourth quarter of the Round Five match between the Brisbane Lions and the Geelong Cats, played at the Gabba on Saturday April 28, 2012.

Daniel Jackson, Richmond, has accepted a one-match sanction for engaging in rough conduct against Scott Selwood, West Coast, during the first quarter of the Round Five match between Richmond and West Coast, played at Etihad Stadium on Sunday April 29, 2012.

Will Schofield, West Coast, has accepted a two-match sanction for striking Jack Riewoldt, Richmond, during the second quarter of the Round Five match between West Coast and Richmond, played at Etihad Stadium on Sunday April 29, 2012.

Justin Westhoff, Port Adelaide, has accepted a $900 sanction for making an obscene gesture during the first quarter of the Round Five match between Port Adelaide and the Adelaide Crows, played at AAMI Stadium on Sunday April 29, 2012. 

Taylor Walker, Adelaide Crows, has accepted a reprimand and 93.75 points towards his future record for bumping or making forceful contact from front-on against Jacob Surjan, Port Adelaide, during the third quarter of the Round Five match between the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide, played at AAMI Stadium on Sunday April 29, 2012.

Video of Decisions:

Charges Laid (Part 2):

Daniel Jackson, Richmond, has been charged after an AFL investigation with a Level One engaging in rough conduct offence against Scott Selwood, West Coast, during the first quarter of the Round Five match between Richmond and West Coast, played at Etihad Stadium on Sunday April 29, 2012.

In summary, due to his previous poor record, his one-match sanction must remain at one game, even with an early plea.

Based on the video evidence available and a medical report from the West Coast Football Club, the incident was assessed as negligent conduct (one point), low impact (one point) and body contact (one point). This is a total of three activation points, resulting in a classification of a Level One offence, drawing 125 demerit points and a one-match sanction. He has an existing bad record of six matches suspended within the last three years, increasing the penalty by 50 per cent to 187.50 points. He also has 72.04 demerit points carried over from within the last 12 months, increasing the penalty to 259.54 points and a two-match sanction. An early plea reduces the penalty by 25 per cent to 194.66 points and a one-match sanction.

Justin Westhoff, Port Adelaide, has been charged after an AFL investigation with a first offence for making an obscene gesture during the first quarter of the Round Five match between Port Adelaide and the Adelaide Crows, played at AAMI Stadium on Sunday April 29, 2012.

In summary, he can accept a $900 sanction with an early plea.

A first offence for making an obscene gesture is a $1200 sanction. An early plea reduces the penalty by 25 per cent to a $900 sanction.

Charges Laid:

Patrick Veszpremi, Western Bulldogs, has been charged with a Level Two misconduct offence for making contact with his head to Tomas Bugg, GWS Giants, during the fourth quarter of the Round Five match between the Western Bulldogs and the GWS Giants, played at Manuka Oval on Saturday April 28, 2012.

In summary, he can accept a reprimand and 93.75 points towards his future record.

Based on the video evidence available and a medical report from the GWS Giants, the incident was assessed as reckless conduct (two points), low impact (one point) and high contact (two points). This is a total of five activation points, resulting in a classification of a Level Two offence, drawing 125 demerit points and a one-match sanction. He has no existing good or bad record. An early plea reduces the penalty by 25 per cent to a reprimand and 93.75 points towards his future record.

Kyal Horsley, Gold Coast Suns, has been charged with a first offence for making negligent contact with an umpire (Heath Ryan), during the first quarter of the Round Five match between the Gold Coast Suns and North Melbourne, played at Etihad Stadium on Saturday April 28, 2012.

In summary, he can accept an $900 sanction with an early plea.

A first offence for making negligent contact with an umpire is a $1200 sanction. An early plea reduces the penalty by 25 per cent to a $900 sanction.

Leigh Montagna, St Kilda, has been charged with a Level Three striking offence against James Magner, Melbourne, during the first quarter of the Round Five match between St Kilda and Melbourne, played at the MCG on Saturday April 28, 2012.

In summary, due to his previous poor record, his two-match sanction must remain at two matches, even with an early plea.

Based on the video evidence available and a medical report from the Melbourne Football Club, the incident was assessed as reckless conduct (two points), medium impact (two points) and high contact (two points). This is a total of six activation points, resulting in a classification of a Level Three offence, drawing 225 demerit points and a two-match sanction. He has an existing bad record of one match suspended within the last three years, increasing the penalty by 10 per cent to 247.50 points. He also has 64.06 demerit points carried over from within the last 12 months, increasing the penalty to 311.56 points and a three-match sanction. An early plea reduces the penalty by 25 per cent to 233.67 points and a two-match sanction.

Andrew Raines, Brisbane Lions, has been charged with a Level Four striking offence against Joel Selwood, Geelong Cats, during the fourth quarter of the Round Five match between the Brisbane Lions and the Geelong Cats, played at the Gabba on Saturday April 28, 2012.

In summary, due to his previous good record, his three-match sanction can be reduced to one match with an early plea.

Based on the video evidence available and a medical report from the Geelong Cats Football Club, the incident was assessed as intentional conduct (three points), medium impact (two points) and high contact (two points). This is a total of seven activation points, resulting in a classification of a Level Four offence, drawing 325 demerit points and three-match sanction. He has an existing good record, reducing the penalty by 25 per cent to 243.75 points and a two-match sanction. An early plea reduces the penalty by 25 per cent to 182.81 points and a one-match sanction.

Will Schofield, West Coast, has been charged with a Level Three striking offence against Jack Riewoldt, Richmond, during the second quarter of the Round Five match between West Coast and Richmond, played at Etihad Stadium on Sunday April 29, 2012.

In summary, due to his previous poor record, his two-match sanction must remain at two matches, even with an early plea.

Based on the video evidence available and a medical report from the Richmond Football Club, the incident was assessed as intentional conduct (three points), medium impact (two points) and body contact (one point). This is a total of six activation points, resulting in a classification of a Level three offence, drawing 225 demerit points and a two-match sanction. He has 93.75 demerit points carried over from within the last 12 months, increasing the penalty to 318.75 points and a three-match sanction. An early plea reduces the penalty by 25 per cent to 239.06 points and a two-match sanction.

Taylor Walker, Adelaide Crows, has been charged with a Level One bumping or making forceful contact from front-on offence against Jacob Surjan, Port Adelaide, during the third quarter of the Round Five match between the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide, played at AAMI Stadium on Sunday April 29, 2012.

In summary, he can accept a reprimand and 93.75 points towards his future record with an early plea.

Based on the video evidence available and a medical report from the Port Adelaide Football Club, the incident was assessed as negligent conduct (one point), low impact (one point) and high contact (two points). This is a total of four activation points, resulting in a classification of a Level One offence, drawing 125 demerit points and a one-match sanction. He has no existing good or bad record. An early plea reduces the sanction by 25 per cent to a reprimand and 93.75 points towards his future record.

Other incidents Assessed:

Contact between Carlton’s Jarrad Waite and Fremantle’s Adam McPhee from the second quarter of Friday’s match was assessed. It was the view of the panel the force used was below that required to constitute a reportable offence. No further action was taken.

Contact between the Western Bulldogs’ Liam Picken and the GWS Giants’ Israel Folau from the first quarter of Saturday’s match was assessed. Folau has received the ball and seeking to kick when he is tackled by player Picken around the waist. Folau disposes of the ball and does not brace for contact with the ground as part of the tackle. It was the view of the panel that Picken’s tackle was not unreasonable in the circumstances and the tackle did not have a slinging motion or a double action to drive his opponent into the ground. No further action was taken.

Contact between the Gold Coast Suns’ Karmichael Hunt and North Melbourne’s Andrew Swallow from the third quarter of Saturday’s match was assessed. The ball is bounced in the middle of the ground and player Swallow is bending to collect the ball as he is tackled by the Suns’ Josh Caddy. Player Hunt is coming to the contest from the side and tries to avoid making contact with the pair of players as they go to the ground. It was the view of the panel that the contact was caused by circumstances outside the control of player Hunt. No further action was taken.

Contact between the Brisbane Lions’ Andrew Raines and the Geelong Cats’ Joel Selwood from the first quarter of Saturday’s match was assessed. the ball is kicked from the Brisbane defence and is loose. Selwood bends over to pick up the ball while Raines is also coming in to contest possession. Raines has his arm out in front of him in a bid to win the ball, but makes high contact. It was the view of the panel that Raines was attempting to win possession and did not have a realistic alternative way to contest the ball. No further action was taken.

Contact between the Geelong Cats’ Joel Selwood and the Brisbane Lions’ Andrew Raines from the fourth quarter of Saturday’s match was assessed. The two players are ahead of the ball and running upfield. Selwood makes high contact to Raines with his left hand. After receiving a medical report from the Brisbane Lions Football Club, it was the view of the panel the force used was below that required to constitute a report. No further action was taken.

Contact between West Coast’s Beau Waters and Richmond’s Daniel Jackson from the first quarter of Sunday’s match was assessed. Richmond’s Shane Tuck has the ball on the wing and player Jackson is forward of the ball, calling for possession. Waters steps into Jackson’s path and braces for contact to block him. It was the view of the panel there was no forceful high contact and that Waters’ action was not unreasonable in the circumstances. The panel said the force used was not excessive in the circumstances and Jackson could reasonably expect contact to be made, having regard to his involvement in play. No further action was taken.

Contact between Richmond’s Shane Tuck and West Coast’s Ashton Hams from the fourth quarter of Sunday’s match was assessed. After a marking contest, the ball comes to ground. Hams is moving towards the ball while Tuck is coming from the opposite direction. Tuck turns side-on to contest the ball and has his eyes on the ball. High contact is made to player Hams and a free kick is paid. It was the view of the panel that Tuck was attempting to win possession and had no realistic alternative way to contest the ball. No further action was taken.