Reid banned for two,Rising Star award on the line
Roy Ward
Rising Star favourite Harley Reid has been handed a two-match ban,which would leave him ineligible for the award as the AFL’s best and fairest young player.
Harley Reid tackles Darcy Wilson,an act that has seen him offered a two-week suspension.Fox Footy
Reid’s dangerous “sling” tackle on St Kilda’s Darcy Wilson on Saturday was ruled worthy of a rough conduct charge,which was graded as careless conduct,high impact and high contact – leading to the two-game suspension with no early plea.
It remains to be seen if West Coast challenge the suspension.
Reid also received two fines totalling $3750 (with early pleas) for making careless contact with an umpire for incidents in the second and final quarters.
If his ban is accepted,Reid won’t be available to play for the Eagles until their home clash with Hawthorn on June 30 as their mid-season bye is scheduled for Round 14.
Western Bulldogs forward Sam Darcy was handed a two-match suspension for his late bump on Collingwood’s Brayden Maynard on Friday night and if Reid’s ban is accepted,it will leave the Rising Star award wide open as they were the two clear favourites for many commentators.
A player needs to be under 21 as of January 1,2024,and have played less than 10 senior games from the start of the season to be eligible for a Rising Star nomination.
On first glance,North Melbourne’s Colby McKercher,St Kilda’s Wilson,North Melbourne’s George Wardlaw and Melbourne’s Caleb Windsor would sit among the top contenders left.
They have already won weekly nominations and are performing strongly for their teams.
Brisbane’s Kai Lohmann,Sydney’s Matt Roberts,Geelong’s Oliver Dempsey,the Western Bulldogs’ Harvey Gallagher,Gold Coast’s Jake Rogers and Collingwood’s Harvey Harrison are the other nominees so far in 2024.
‘Fundamental’ mid-season change not ideal,says Scott
Danny Russell
Geelong coach Chris Scott says it is “not ideal” clubs are having to change the way they play during the middle of a season because of an AFL-directed tweak to the holding-the-ball-rule.
Oliver Dempsey of the Cats is tackled.Getty Images
Speaking after the Cats’ first win in five weeks,a 30-point win over Richmond at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday night,Scott said the umpires had become “pretty hot on holding the ball”.
“It’s fundamentally changed the way that you play around the ball,” Scott said in his post-match press conference.
“We can see that after – how many games have been played[this weekend] – four or five games.”
Geelong midfielder Tanner Bruhn agreed that the new rule interpretation took some mid-game adjustment as the Cats midfield was overwhelmed in the first half by Richmond’s intensity and tackling pressure.
“It sort of took a while to get used to,to be honest,” Bruhn told this masthead.
“I think that at the start of the game,we’re all sort of wondering,‘how’s this going to play out’?
“But after a few calls were made,we sort of realised that,‘gee,they’re going to be hot on it’.”
The Tigers had a firmer grasp of what was expected,dominating Geelong during the first half,leading clearances 23 to 18,stoppage clearances 18 to 13 and tackles 39 to 29.
The parochial Geelong crowd was livid across the first two terms when at least two holding the ball decision were not paid against Richmond players who appeared to let go of the ball during tackles.
“I think most people would expect that there’s going to be an overreaction from the umpires,because it’s really hard to make an adjustment and get it exactly right,” Scott said.
“I haven’t got a really strong opinion on it just yet,But the one thing I’m happy to say is we will need to adjust the way we play off the back of it. And that’s not ideal in round 11 or 12,or whatever it is.
“We need to think it through a little bit. Normally,you’re sort of working through these things over a four-month pre-season.
“All we’ve ever asked for is that we have all the information we can so we understand the rules exactly as they are going to be interpreted. And then we can coach the players accordingly.
“So there’ll be lots and lots of examples that we can look at,over this round and the next round that we can get clarification on.”
Patrick Dangerfield will be back next week.Getty Images
Geelong trailed by 29 points during the first half and went in at the long break 16 points in arrears,struggling to contain the dominance of Liam Baker and ruckman Toby Nankervis.
It must have been a hard watch for Patrick Dangerfield,who has been stuck in the coaches’ box for the past five rounds,waiting for his hamstring to be given the all clear (lock it in next week).
But “Danger” would have been proud of the Cats midfield quartet of Jack Bowes,Tanner Bruhn,Max Holmes and Tom Atkins who swung the game back in Geelong’s favour during the third term.
They did so by winning the clearances 12-5,the centre clearances 6-1,the stoppage clearances 6-4 and the Cats led the third-quarter tackles 17 to 11.
While young forward Ollie Dempsey kept his side in the game with two late goals in the second quarter and one in the third,a previously quiet Jeremy Cameron was moved to a wing to assert considerable influence and Shannon Neale put the Cats in front for the first time all game at the 20-minute mark of the third term.
Their effort has catapulted Geelong back onto the winners’ list and suddenly their 8-4 return for the season looks healthy.
“There’s no room to slack off a bit in this comp,” Bruhn said.
“We knew that Richmond,obviously they have a few out,but that doesn’t mean they’re not going to bring the heat and they are not going to bring the pressure,so we were probably just a little bit off in that first half.
“But we managed to pull it back and finish off the game well.”
Scott said Geelong would look at bringing back their skipper for next Sunday’s clash with top-of-the-table Sydney at the SCG after “he’s had a few really good weeks on the track”.
“He’s tracking really well,Pat,and he’s going to be a great addition to have,” Bruhn said.
“We’ve sort of got that next-man-up mentality,but when you’ve got Patty Danger coming back that’s a nice one to have.”
One negative for Geelong was losing Ollie Henry to hamstring awareness in the second quarter,but Scott said the decision to remove him from the game was precautionary.
Dustin Martin’s next game will be his 300th.AFL Photos
Tigers weigh up Dusty decision ahead of Crows clash
Danny Russell
Injury-plagued and undermanned Richmond face the dilemma of whether to take club champion Dustin Martin to Adelaide on Thursday night to play his 300th game off a five-day break.
If the Tigers rest their three-time premiership star,he would be able to celebrate the milestone the following week in front of the Richmond faithful at the MCG against Hawthorn.
Richmond coach Yze said the decision to play Martin would not be made on saving the 300th game for the MCG – a stage on which he has won a record three Norm Smith Medals.
“Oh,no it won’t be around that it will be because we’ve got a five-day break,” Yze said.
“So we will probably have three or four players in that category based on their age and workload that might be high risk to play against Adelaide no matter what.
“So we’ll go through that and see who pulls up well,and things like that,and he will obviously be one of those players. So we’ll let you know as soon as we can.
“We’re about performance and things we want,and he’ll want to play,but like I said if it’s too high-risk based on a five-day break ... we’ll make that decision later in the week.”
The Tigers injury curse continued on Saturday night with impressive first-year forward Mykelti Lefau taken from the ground with a knee injury,and Marlion Pickett being subbed out of the game with a calf complaint.
Richmond confirmed on Sunday Lefua’s season was because he had ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in a marking contest.
The New Zealand-born,25-year-old forward has kicked 14 goals from 10 games since his debut in round three,but he hyperextended his right knee after landing awkwardly in the final term of Saturday night’s match to become the fifth RIchmond player to go down with an ACL injury this season. The Tigers already had Tylar Young,Sam Naismith,Josh Gibcus and Judson Clarke out for the rest of their 2024 campaign.
Tigers football performance general manager Tim Livingstone said he looked forward to seeing Lefau continue his career next year.
“Football can be a cruel game sometimes,and for Mykelti,who has been in terrific form,this is an unfortunate way for his debut season to finish,” Livingstone said.
“Mykelti has not put a foot wrong since he joined our AFL program in the pre-season,and we know he will attack his rehab with the same professionalism and energy that has held him in such strong stead this season.
“We will give him our support every step of the way and help him to return to action and to continue with his promising career in 2025.”
As well as some time out with a calf injury,Pickett might be looking at a fine for appearing to give the Geelong crowd the bird as he walked from the ground.
“I haven’t seen it,” Yze said. “But if he has,yeah,that’d be disappointing. I’d have a chat to him for sure.”
In a lighter moment,Yze said that key defender Noah Balta was referring to a notebook at the interchange bench during the second term because he was trying to explain Geelong’s stoppage structure and what they were doing in their forward 50.
“He called me over and I couldn’t read his writing,but it was smart,” Yze said.
“Look,it was just a different way of explaining what he was trying to get across to us. So it made sense in the end and he had a really good game.”
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