Essendon have confirmed they will appeal the one-match ban handed down to captain Zach Merrett for a dangerous tackle on Melbourne’s Tom Sparrow in the club’s Gather Round clash with Melbourne.
If successful, the Bombers will get their skipper back for their blockbuster Anzac Day clash with Collingwood.
Essendon captain Zach Merrett.Credit: AFL Photos
Merrett’s tackle on Sparrow came in the final five minutes of the Bombers’ shock 27-point defeat of the premiership favourites.
The star midfielder initially grabbed Sparrow around the neck as he grappled with him before flinging him to the turf head-first, which the match review officer Michael Christian assessed as careless conduct, medium impact and high contact.
Sparrow appeared uninjured and got to his feet to take his free kick.
The incident is similar to Hawthorn midfielder Will Day’s two-game ban for a dangerous tackle on Geelong’s Brad Close in round four, which was upheld at the tribunal after being deemed an “inherently dangerous action”.
The match review officer graded Day’s tackle as careless conduct, high impact and high contact.
The Hawks argued Day’s tackle had no active aggression as he took his opponent to the ground rather than applying extra force. Close is not known to have been injured by the tackle and Hawthorn argued to have the impact downgraded to medium.
However, tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson KC dismissed that argument and said “the extent of force was considerable” and upheld the high impact charge.
The AFL’s legal representative Sam Bird explained the guidelines are clear that consideration of potential injury is now front centre, rather than looking solely at any injury a player may have sustained as a result of the incident.
More to come.
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