Carlton will challenge Adam Cerra’s suspension in a bid to have him free for the Blues’ important clash with Adelaide on Saturday.
The in-form Cerra was given a one-match ban for striking Jack Bowes in the Blues’ victory over Geelong on Sunday. The hit was graded as intentional, low impact and high contact.
To overturn the ban, the Blues will need to convince the tribunal the strike should have been assessed as careless rather than intentional or that the contact was made to the body and not high. Either scenario would result in a fine.
The Blues have had considerable success in appealing bans over the last four seasons, headlined by the famous Patrick Cripps case in 2022 which cleared the way for the Blues captain to win that year’s Brownlow Medal.
Nic Newman, Harry McKay, Jordan Boyd and Cerra himself have all had suspensions thrown out. The Blues also had a two-game suspension for forward Jack Martin’s reduced to one during the 2023 finals series.
Cerra has played an important part in the Blues’ revival, polling coaches votes in two of the past three games.
