Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew has sympathised with Melbourne’s Jacob van Rooyen, saying it was “clear” the Demons forward “wasn’t trying to hurt” Suns defender Charlie Ballard in the incident that resulted in a two-game ban.
But Suns youngster Wil Powell said van Rooyen “got what he deserved” and didn’t have eyes for the football when he “smacked Charlie in the head”.
The Demons will appeal the suspension slapped on van Rooyen for the charge of “careless conduct, high impact and high contact”, a decision Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin said was testing the “fabric of the game”.
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Ballard was stretchered off the field in the Suns’ five-point loss on Saturday at Heritage Bank Stadium after the bicep of van Rooyen’s outstretched arm made contact with his head.
However, Dew said Ballard was now “fine” and set to play against the West Coast Eagles in Perth on Friday night.
“Clearly, the doctor made the right call on the night, but he pulled up really well the next day and he’s been fully training since,” Dew said.
“It’s a good little bonus because you’re thinking at the time that this could be serious but it wasn’t.”
Dew was reluctant to comment on van Rooyen being suspended but admitted it was tough for players to “adjust”.
“The thing is they (the AFL) want to protect the head and then it’s their decision to work out where that lies,” the Suns coach said.
“It’s clear he wasn’t trying to hurt Charlie’s neck. He was trying to bring the ball to ground.
“I’m sure (Demons coach) Simon (Goodwin) would be thinking in that contest, you do what you can to bring the ball to ground, and that’s what he tried to do.
“In a collision, there’s millimetres in the fine line between a spoil or potential report. That’s what’s pretty difficult for the players these days.
“They’ll continue to adjust.”
Despite the outrage and his coach’s admission, Powell, said players had to be better at avoiding contact and van Rooyen was careless.
“I just think he got it wrong,” Powell told SEN WA.
“It’s widely covered now that if you make contact with the head and don‘t make contact with the footy, you’re going to be in a bit of trouble.
“I think the MRO is doing a really good job of staying on top of (these incidents) which is perfect.
“He didn‘t make contact with the footy, didn’t have eyes with the footy and smacked Charlie in the side of the head.
“I think he got what he deserved, the MRO is doing a good job.”
While Ballard will travel to Perth, teammates Ben Ainsworth (quad), Nick Holman (toe) and Lachie Weller (knee) will all miss a second successive match.
“He wasn’t able to train fully so we’ll look to prepare him for next week rather than push him,” Dew said of Ainsworth.
“We assessed where he was physically and whether we felt it was worth pushing him to train (on Wednesday).
“He probably could have (completed the session), but we felt there was a bit of risk that we’d set him back again, so we took all doubt out of it.”
The Suns won’t take a complacent attitude to Perth despite the struggling Eagles having lost seven of their eight matches this season.
“We go over there with a healthy expectation, but we’re certainly not taking them lightly,” Dew said.
“We’re not falling into the trap that they haven’t got any players.”
