Adelaide forward Josh Rachele will be sweating on his availability for next Sunday’s clash with Melbourne after a moment of frustration saw him reported for striking during Saturday’s loss to Greater Western Sydney at the Adelaide Oval.
Rachele was expressing frustration with his treatment at the hands of several Greater Western Sydney players, then struck the Giants’ Jack Buckley when he approached the young forward to remonstrate.
The Match Review Officer will have to determine whether Rachele’s strike made initial contact with Buckley’s neck / head region – if it did, Rachele’s act will likely be graded intentional conduct.
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Adelaide Crows Press Conference | 09:37
Intentional conduct would mean only a ‘low’ impact grading would be required to constitute a one-match ban, with medium impact a two-match ban.
If initial contact from Rachele was to the chest region of Buckley before drifting up, conduct could be graded careless, which would mean a grading of medium impact would be needed to result in a one-match ban.
“He’s lucky his fist didn’t get him, number one, and then the elbow,” Brad Johnson told Fox Footy.
“He’s on the sidelines for one, possibly two (weeks).”
Adelaide takes on Melbourne at the MCG next week, followed by a Showdown with Port Adelaide.
Rachele appeared to be targeted by the Giants on Saturday night, with multiple spotfires breaking out over the course of the match.
“He was getting targeted all day. But he’s got to take that on board, he’s got to take that as a compliment, they’re trying to put him off his game,” former Crows star Eddie Betts told Fox Footy.
“Jordan Dawson (Adelaide’s captain) sat down and spoke to him on the bench so hopefully he could learn from it and move forward.”
The 20-year-old has been an excitement machine since arriving at the club with pick No.6 in the 2021 draft.
Johnson said he had no issue with Rachele standing up for himself, but cautioned him against reacting in the way he did.
“I’ve got no problem with that, because he was roughed up a bit and he was just standing up for himself. But if you throw your arm, you’ve just got to suffer that (a suspension),” Johnson said.
“I think it shows from his point of view though that he’s going to stick up for himself, which I don’t mind, but you can’t be doing what you did.”
Last month, Rachele signed a contract extension that saw his end date move from the close of 2025 to at least the end of 2029.
Essendon forward great Matthew Lloyd was withering in his stance on Rachele’s actions on Saturday night.
“He’s one for me that needs to pull his head in as a person and as a footballer,” Lloyd said on Nine’s Sunday Footy Show.
“There’s all the carry on he’s got when he’s going well but gee, he was undisciplined yesterday. That bit of play, he got hit around the mouth and he went charging and didn’t get the free kick, he went chasing the player, rips him to the ground, free kick against, it was a real momentum changer.
“He got taken off the ground, didn’t get put on the phone. I think at times he thinks he’s going better than he is and I think that’s something Nicksy should get on top of.
“You’re not Toby Greene, you’re not Charlie Cameron, start doing the little things got you drafted because I reckon he’s got ahead of himself.”
