The Coleman Medal leader will miss his side’s clash with the Dockers on the weekend accepting a ban for tripping.
Hawthorn leading goalkicker Jarryd Roughead will miss his side’s all-important Round 21 clash with Fremantle after accepting a one-match ban for tripping.
The AFL tribunal will not sit on Tuesday after the Hawks forward decided not to fight the ban.
Roughead normally would have been able to escape with a reprimand for the incident, but due to a previous poor record and the resulting carry-over points, he saw the sanction increased to one-match.
The 27-year-old’s absence means Hawthorn could go into the match against the Dockers without its two leading goalkickers, with Jack Gunston racing against the clock to overcome a knee injury.
Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson is in support of changes being made to the AFL’s match review system, suggesting it needed to be improved to prevent players from missing games due to minor incidents.
“If it gets changed it will be unfortunate for Nat Fyfe and Roughie and those guys who have perhaps been penalised throughout the course of this year,” Clarkson told FoxFooty’s AFL360 program on Monday night.
“If it’s something they’ve recognised is a weakness in the current system and they look to improve it, that’s a good thing for the game.
“Now for those guys who suffer the consequences at the present time it’s not so great. But anything that works towards the system being better then I think it’s a good thing.”
COMMENTS