Updated ,first published
In today’s AFL Briefing, your daily wrap of footy news:
- Roos ruckman heading to tribunal for smear charge.
- Magpies lose skipper again to hamstring injury.
Xerri wipe to be scrutinised by tribunal
Jake Niall
North Melbourne ruckman Tristan Xerri will be sent to the tribunal to face the allegation he wiped blood on the face of Essendon’s Andy McGrath in Saturday night’s game.
Based on precedent and the AFL rules, the league’s match review officer will confirm on Sunday that Xerri has been charged with conduct unbecoming, meaning his matter will head straight to the tribunal, where he faces a possible suspension if found guilty.
MRO Michael Christian reviews incidents the day after a game, delivering his explanations and sanctions that afternoon. The Xerri incident does not fall into category that can be graded by the MRO and have an automatic penalty applied to it. Therefore, it will be sent to the tribunal.
Xerri was scuffling with McGrath when he touched his bloodied nose then appeared to wipe his hand on the Bomber’s face in a game the Roos won by two goals. Xerri’s actions were widely criticised by commentators and former players during and after the game.
Under tribunal guidelines, Christian has the power to refer serious acts of misconduct directly to the tribunal.
Misconduct covers any act which would be “reasonably regarded as unacceptable or unsportsmanlike or where it had the effect or potential to prejudice the reputation of any person, club or the AFL or to bring the game of football into disrepute”, the tribunal guidelines say.
To find an example comparable to the Xerri incident at the highest level, requires looking back almost a quarter of a century – long before the advent of the MRO.
In 2002, Nathan Buckley, Collingwood captain at the time, was suspended for a game for smearing his blood on the guernsey of Geelong opponent Cameron Ling in a landmark case. An obvious difference between the two cases is the fact Xerri wiped directly onto McGrath skin, rather than onto his opponent’s guernsey, as Buckley did.
Any suspension would result in Xerri missing a winnable marquee Good Friday match against Carlton.
Moore out for another month
Greg Dundas
Collingwood will be without skipper Darcy Moore as they enter a string of blockbuster games in April.
The Magpies confirmed on Sunday morning that a low-grade hamstring strain suffered during Friday’s win over GWS Giants would rule the star defender out for the next “three to four weeks”.
That stretch includes the Thursday-night game against the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba which lead into the Easter weekend, followed by games against Fremantle at home, arch rival Carlton, and, possibly, the Anzac Day clash with Essendon.
It’s a bitter blow for Moore who was playing his first game for the season on Friday at Marvel Stadium.
Collingwood’s executive general manager of football Charlie Gardiner said scans taken since Friday night’s game showed Moore had an inflamed bursa behind his knee.
“We are obviously disappointed for Darcy. Scans yesterday showed he has sustained a low-grade hamstring strain along with an inflamed bursa behind his knee, which is expected to keep him out for the next three to four weeks,” Gardiner said.
“Darcy will continue to work closely with our medical and high-performance team as he progresses through his return-to-play timeline.”
Collingwood beat the Giants on Friday despite Moore being sidelined with what, at the time, was described as “hamstring awareness” and his predecessor as captain, Scott Pendlebury, also hobbled with an Achilles strain.
Moore spent long stints off the ground on Friday. Speaking to media after the match, Collingwood coach Craig McRae said Moore’s return to the field had been cautiously handled.
“It’s hamstring awareness,” McRae said. “For those following his rehab back to play, he had this about 10 to 12 days ago – the same thing – and we were just, ‘No risk, no risk, no risk’.
“But we were in the game, and you go, ‘Can he push through? Can he take some minutes?’ Because it’s important that, in terms of rotations, to see if he could take some minutes without risk.
“Now I say that, but I’m just backing in the high-performance team. That’s not my area, and so we did that.
“But he’s not right. He’s not 100 per cent. Has he done a hamstring? I’m not sure. I don’t think so… but we’ll obviously do all the investigations and find out.”
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Jake Niall is a Walkley award-winning sports journalist and chief AFL writer for The Age.Connect via X or email.
