Sydney’s Sam Wicks could be in hot water after a high bump on Brisbane’s Ryan Lester but a Lions star who was placed on report on Friday night has nothing to worry about.
That is at least the consensus among a few former players after Jarrod Berry came under scrutiny from the match officials for rough conduct on Sydney’s Will Hayward.
The incident in question took place during the third quarter, with the Match Review Officer to decide whether Berry’s actions should be deemed as a reportable offence.
Then, according to Fox Footy’s David Zita, the MRO will ask two more questions before coming to a final verdict.
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“Was Will Hayward vulnerable and was there excessive force used by Jarrod Berry?” Zita said.
“If the answer is no to both of those questions, Berry will be free to play against St Kilda next week.”
Commentators were resounding in their opinion on the Berry incident, believing he has no case to answer and should be available for selection next week.
“We know the ones we don’t want – the Nathan Broad one earlier in the year and he got four weeks for that. That was a clear tackle and sling and dump to the ground and we don’t want that,” Matthew Richardson said on Channel 7’s coverage of the game.
“He’s a fierce competitor (Berry). In the moment, you’ve got to go from fierce competitor to being gentle in a split second – you can’t. You can’t switch your mindset like that so quickly.
“I don’t see that as a dump at all. They are both spinning around.”
AFL great Luke Hodge added: “I‘ve got no idea”.
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Wicks though looks the more likely of the two to be spending time on the sideline, also placed on report for an unnecessary bump on Lester in the second quarter.
While Lester was able to play out the remainder of the game, both Garry Lyon and Jonathan Brown agreed that Wicks would be facing a one-game ban at a minimum.
“One, maybe two for stupidity,” Lyon said.
“It’s pretty cut and dry from where we sit.”
“You should get one for that,” Brown added.
“Potential to cause injury – it’s lucky he didn’t end up with a broken jaw.”
“You shake your head, I’m still trying to work out why he jumped and why he raised his elbow,” Jordan Lewis added.
“No matter how hard you hit, it’s a position on your body that’s not well protected.”
Zita reported that actions like that of Wicks would likely be graded as a strike due to the raised forearm.
“Even if it’s careless, (it’s) usually graded higher than low impact,” he said.
“That potential to cause injury is crucial when it comes to the impact grading.”