Essendon coach Brad Scott lampooned the tribunal defence attempted by Port Adelaide for suspended forward Junior Rioli as he expressed relief at the recovery of star defender Jordan Ridley from concussion.
Ridley was forced out of last week’s five-point loss to Port after being taken out behind the play by a swinging arm from Rioli who was given a two-week suspension.
In trying to avoid a ban for Rioli, his defence council tried to claim Ridley ran into Rioli’s outstretched arm to cause contact.
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“On one view he was unfortunate but moving his arm the way he did meant that he was careless to whether he committed a strike,” lawyer Paul Erlich, acting for Rioli, told the tribunal.
“We say unfortunately because the arm (of Rioli) was up, Mr Ridley ran into it.”
Scott said the resultant suspension meant little to the Bombers post-match, but he did take a dig at the defence, likening it to a knocked-out boxer claiming he ran into his opponent’s fist.
“The defence team put up whatever argument they think is going to be best, but it’s a bit like Frank Bruno arguing that he ran into Mike Tyson’s fist,” Scott said on Thursday.
“It doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
Ridley is already back running in a positive sign for a return next week and had progressed “much quicker than we thought” in his recovery.
Scott revealed star forward Peter Wright is also ahead of schedule in his return from a shoulder injury that has kept him sidelined all season.
Wright, Essendon’s best and fairest last season, had surgery in March after dislocating his shoulder at training on the eve of round 1.
He’s not expected back until the second half of the season, but Scott said that return could possibly come sooner.
“I’ve seen a lot of really professional players, he’s right up there with the best of them. He’s just been fantastic in rehab,” Scott said.
“He’s ahead of schedule. That doesn’t mean that we’ll bring him back ahead of schedule, but he’s pushing really hard and progressing really well.
“He’s pretty keen to get back out there and play for us. We won’t play him before he’s right, but the fact that he’s going so well is quite heartening.”
