In today’s AFL Briefing, your daily wrap of footy news:
- The MRO has delivered its findings from Saturday’s games.
- Port Adelaide cautiously hopeful Rioli will return against Cats.
Essendon star Zach Merrett has been cleared by the match review officer after his clash with Sydney defender Nick Blakey during the Bombers’ win over the Swans on Saturday.
Merrett was expected to face scrutiny from the MRO for the run-in late in the game with his Swans opponent.
A short time after the Swans confirmed on Sunday that Blakey had passed his HIA test, the MRO email explained why Merrett was not charged.
“The incident involving Essendon’s Zach Merrett and Sydney’s Nick Blakey from the fourth quarter of Saturday’s match was assessed by the match review officer,” the league explained.
“Merrett and Blakey approach the ball from opposite directions and with his eyes on the ball, Merrett attempts to tap the ball over Blakey’s head and after making contact with the ball, Merrett makes high contact with Blakey.
Zach Merrett of the Bombers thanks fans after his club’s win over Sydney.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
“It was the view of the MRO that Merrett made a genuine attempt at the ball and that his actions did not constitute a breach of the duty of care he owed to Blakey. No further action was taken.”
Merrett is rated among the top contenders for this year’s Brownlow Medal, but betting on him was suspended following the incident.
TAB had Merrett fourth in its Brownlow odds market on Sunday (with betting suspended), while ESPN’s Brownlow Medal tracker, which plots possible votes for players each week, had him sixth on their leaderboard going into this round.
Merrett leapt for a bouncing ball in the final term and attempted to hit it forward where the Bombers had an open goal beckoning, but he didn’t appear to see Blakey close in and his hand instead made strong contact with Blakey’s head.
The speedy Swan was called from the field for a head-injury assessment, and given there were less than 20 minutes left in the game he was unable to return.
However, he did walk off the ground with his teammates and attended coach Dean Cox’s post-game chat with the team.
Merrett told Fox Footy after the game that he’d only had eyes for the footy and setting up the goal.
“I thought I had got all ball, and we were about to kick a goal – I don’t think there is anything to worry about,” Merrett told Fox Footy post-game.
Later, in his press conference, Swans coach Dean Cox confirmed Blakey was assessed for concussion, but said he didn’t know if he passed or failed the test.
Cox added that on first look, he thought both players were going for the footy.
“Both people just going at the ball. Timing. That’s all I can say having watched it live as I didn’t have time to look at it again,” Cox said.
Power hopes for Rioli return
Steve Barrett
Port Adelaide remain hopeful, rather than certain, that goalsneak Willie Rioli will be in the right headspace to make himself available for next weekend’s grudge match against Geelong at Adelaide Oval.
Port coach Ken Hinkley (right) hopes to get Willie Rioli back for next week’s home game against Geelong.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
Rioli withdrew himself from Saturday night’s Showdown – which Adelaide won by five points – before being suspended anyway by the AFL for making a series of alleged threats against rival players from the Cats, Essendon and Western Bulldogs.
Darcy Byrne-Jones believes his fellow forward is in a better emotional place than earlier in the week.
“He (Rioli) is doing OK,” Byrne-Jones said. “He obviously made the pretty tough decision to pull himself out of a game like tonight.
“I think that (returning against the Cats) is the plan – see how it goes.
“We’ll continue to put our arm around him and make sure he’s OK.
“He’ll take the time he needs and hopefully he’s back next week.”
The Power pushed the Crows to the wire in a typically gripping Showdown, a gutsy response after a difficult seven-day stretch that started with a 90-point thumping from the Bulldogs in Ballarat and the Rioli controversy.
“It was obviously a challenging week for everyone at the club, given the result last weekend and the stuff with Willie throughout the week,” Byrne-Jones said.
“But I thought the group stuck together pretty well.
“[We were] disappointed with the result, but the effort was there compared to last week.”
Port coach Ken Hinkley confirmed Rioli attended all but one of the club’s sessions during the week, and said he supported the talented forward’s decision to stay home on match day.
“He had the choice to either watch (at the ground) or not be here, and I thought the right option for him was not to be here,” Hinkley said.
“He just needed some time. And I made sure he got that time.”
Hinkley insisted Rioli’s mental health was more important than whether he puts his hand up to play Geelong.
“We’ll look after him, we’ll make some decisions and make sure he’s OK,” he said.
“Our major focus is to make sure Willie’s OK and he’s got our care. He always will have [that].
“Hopefully he’s OK and he’s available … he might have been handy tonight, mightn’t he?
“We’ll move on, and hopefully we can leave all this stuff behind us and we can get on with playing footy.”
