Port Adelaide star Junior Rioli will be sweating on the Match Review after his off-the-ball incident left a Bombers defender concussed on the Adelaide Oval turf.
Rioli had his back to the ball midway through the second term when he decided to go and put a block on for teammate Jeremy Finlayson.
Replays showed Rioli jump into the air and turn, making contact with Essendon defender Jordan Ridley’s face.
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Ridley crashed to the turf before being assisted from the field.
He was later seen grabbing at his jaw and was subbed out with concussion.
Interestingly, no free kick was paid for the high contact.
Fox Footy’s Dermott Brereton said despite the contact potentially being a “glancing blow”, that in itself had the ability to cause serious damage.
“We don’t know what it is at the moment,” he said.
“The arm comes across.
“It seemed pretty innocuous.
“Did he deliberately do it? You don’t know.
“He’s not playing the ball – he’s behind play and he jumps.
“I would say it’s probably the wrist (that makes contact with Ridley) – it’s not a fist that’s gone across, laterally across the jaw.”
Brereton warned just because the moment looked “innocuous” didn’t mean Rioli would be in the clear.
“Any boxer would tell you the most dangerous contact you can have to one that goes that way (across the jaw),” he said.
“You can get hit that way, a glancing blow, and you can have real problems.”
Essendon had been up by 13 points at the time Ridley went down.
“They cant afford to lose him – they are short as it is,” commentator Mark Ricciuto said as Ridley came from the ground.
The AFL has taken a hard stance against head contact this season, with Rioli to now find out his fate on Monday.
