The Tigers coach criticised Conca’s actions, but said the youngster would learn from the incident.
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Damien Hardwick said while the club is disappointed with Reece Conca’s “selfish” act against Greater Western Sydney on the weekend, the Richmond coach says he expects the 21-year-old will learn from the incident.
Conca was suspended by the Match Review Panel for two matches for elbowing the Giants’ Devon Smith in the back of the head during the second quarter of the Tigers’ win on Saturday.
The two were involved in a wrestling contest where Smith pulled Conca’s jumper over his head, the Richmond player then followed Smith to the interchange gate where he caught the unsuspecting Giant in the back of the head with an elbow.
“We had a chat to Reece. Obviously we’re disappointed – we like our players to play hard and tough but that was above and beyond,” Hardwick said on Thursday.
“He was really disappointed with his actions, as were we. We’ve got a good player sitting in the stands for two weeks.
“Reece is a quality kid, he stepped outside the bounds, he knows that, we know that and we’re really disappointed he decided to do that.
“It was really selfish on his behalf.
“He’ll get better and learn from it, and more importantly, we’re probably lucky Devon Smith didn’t cop a nasty injury from it.
Conca will miss the Tigers’ clash with Essendon on Friday night and their away game against Adelaide in Round 21.
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