Xerri faces three-week ban, Saints debutant cleared
Shayne Hope and Roger Vaughan |
In-form ruckman Tristan Xerri is set to miss North Melbourne’s next three AFL games after he knocked out Melbourne onballer Tom Sparrow.
But St Kilda debutant Max Heath was cleared for the collision that left Sydney defender Tom McCartin concussed, with no mention of the incident in Monday’s match review findings.
Kangaroos coach Alastair Clarkson had conceded Xerri was at the mercy of the match review officer after his high hit on Sparrow.
The incident was graded as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact.
North will now weigh up whether they take the charge to the tribunal.
The tribunal will sit this week, most likely late on Tuesday afternoon, with Carlton’s Adam Cerra facing possible suspension in a test case for the league.
Cerra was referred to the tribunal over his latest case of careless umpire contact.
Brisbane will also go to the tribunal to challenge Zac Bailey’s one-game ban for rough conduct, after his high bump on Carlton defender Nick Haynes.
If the ban is upheld, Bailey will miss Friday night’s home game against the Western Bulldogs.
Xerri’s attempted tackle on Sparrow caught his opponent high in the immediate follow-up play after a boundary throw-in during Melbourne’s 36-point win on Sunday.
Sparrow was knocked out and eventually taken off on a stretcher, and has been put in concussion protocols.
Clarkson referenced a separate incident, in which North’s Luke Davies-Uniacke was concussed by Western Bulldogs midfielder Ed Richards one week earlier, when asked post-match about Xerri’s contact.
“We’re at (the AFL’s) discretion. They’ll look at every concussion,” Clarkson said.
“But they looked at LDU’s concussion last week and said no case to answer, and that’s a raised forearm to the scone.
“This is just a tackle … he’s got very, very little time to prepare for the tackle.
“That will be up to the AFL to work out, but unfortunately in the game there’s going to be collisions, especially around stoppage and especially around the big rucks.”
Heath forced McCartin out of the Swans’ nail-biting five-point win on Sunday with a spoiling attempt that caught his opponent high.
Meanwhile, Carlton father-son recruit Ben Camporeale was suspended for four VFL or AFL matches, delaying his senior debut.
Camporeale was banned for pushing Brisbane opponent Deven Robertson into Lions teammate James Tunstill at a centre bounce in Friday’s VFL game. The impact left the two Brisbane players with concussion.
Camporeale is the son of Blues great Scott Camporeale. Twin brother Lucas has played two senior games for Carlton this season.
AAP
