Xerri fronts up over alleged blood swipe

Tristan Xerri touched his bloody nose during a fight with Andrew McGrath and then appeared to wipe his hand on the Bomber’s face.

Xerri’s moment of madness came moments after he challenged the referee for a ball infringement free kick and was awarded a 100-metre penalty for being slow to pass the ball to Lachlan Blakiston. He then fell to the ground after being pushed by McGrath and hitting the oncoming Archie Roberts.

Amid the chaos, North’s forward was left unguarded in his 50 as Xerri, who suffered a bloody nose from the incident, recovered from the kick. He marked and scored from the Bombers’ turnover and it was thanks to Xerri’s push and shove after that goal that he made contact with McGrath.

Former Collingwood captain Nathan Buckley was suspended from a game in 2002 for smearing his blood on Geelong rival Cameron Ling’s guernsey in a historic case.

Xerri can expect a longer sanction given his contact was with McGrath’s skin.