MRO bans for James Sicily, Dylan Moore and John Noble
Greg Dundas, Shayne Hope And Justin Chadwick
Updated ,first published
Your daily football news package in today’s AFL Briefing:
- Three players were offered one-week bans by the MRO following Saturday’s match.
- A subsidiary of a Chinese government-owned firm is about to bid for a $1.13 billion Tasmanian stadium construction contract.
- North Melbourne inflicted another heavy defeat on the Tigers.
- Jye Amiss kicked a career-high five goals as Fremantle continued their west derby dominance against the Eagles.
Two Hawks and one Sun offered one-game bans
Greg Dundas
Two of Hawthorn’s key players have been offered suspensions, with Port Adelaide’s Zak Butters dealt another blow to the hip pocket in AFL match review officer findings from Saturday’s three-point thriller at Marvel Stadium.
Captain James Sicily and craft striker Dylan Moore were the only two Hawks to receive one-match suspensions for striking Port’s Logan Evans in the third quarter.
If they choose not to challenge these bans in court, they will miss the Hawks’ round seven match against Gold Coast.
Port’s stand-in captain Butters was offered a $1,000 fine for hitting Hawthorn’s Sam Butler in the same quarter of the same game. He has already been booked for a separate appeal hearing on Monday as he fights against a $1,500 fine handed to him by the AFL a week ago.
Last week the league tribunal found Butters guilty of using abusive and insulting language towards referee Nick Foot in Port’s Gather Round defeat to St Kilda.
Butters’ teammate Joshua Lai was also fined $1000 for careless contact with the referee in Saturday’s match, while two penalties were also issued for the match between Gold Coast and Essendon.
Sicily was caught on camera late in the third quarter, allegedly hitting Evans from midfield. Undisciplined behavior led to Evans shooting at goal after the siren. The MRO assessed the contact as intentional and of moderate impact.
Moore also awarded a free kick to Evans early in the quarter with a free kick at his team’s 50 meter line which was rated the same by MRO.
The Suns face the possibility of not having defender John Noble in action against the Hawks after the MRO detected him displaying rough conduct towards Bomber Thomas Edwards in the fourth quarter. It turned out that Noble had carelessly shot Edwards high at mid-contact.
As he raced for a ball near the boundary line at the Suns half-forward line, he raised his arms and collected the Bomber, before Edwards rubbed his head behind his ear. Former captain Youk Miller was fined $1,000 for careless contact with the referee in the same game.
China link to Tasmanian AFL stadium construction bid
A subsidiary of a Chinese government-owned firm is preparing to bid for a $1.13 billion stadium construction contract.
The Tasmanian government has selected Constructure Joint Venture and BESIX Watpac to participate in the tender process for the construction of Hobart’s Macquarie Point Multi-Purpose Stadium.
Approved by state parliament in December, the 23,000-seat roofed waterfront site will become the home of the Tasmania Devils AFL club.
Both groups have passed the initial expression of interest stage and will move on to the preliminary stages of the tender process.
Constructure consists of several companies, including China Construction Oceania, a subsidiary of parent company China State Construction Engineering Corporation.
Headquartered in Beijing, the company is among the world’s largest construction companies, with more than 360,000 employees, according to its website.
Italian firm Webuild SpA and New Zealand-based McConnell Dowell are also important partners.
Asked if he was happy with the potential involvement of the Chinese government, Macquarie Point Urban Renewal Minister Eric Abetz said the proposal would not be accepted.
“This is a joint venture, if you will, between three different national companies,” he told reporters on Sunday.
“We look forward to the proposal and hope to move forward.”
Anne Beach, managing director of Macquarie Point Development Corporation, said world-class construction firms operating in Australia were often internationally owned.
“It gives us the advantage of balance sheet, capacity, risk management and expertise,” Ms. Beach said.
“This is a joint venture and Webuild is a leader in this and we are comfortable that they have demonstrated the capacity to deliver this project.”
The Tasmanian government hopes to award a contract to build the stadium by the end of 2026. It was recently announced that the stadium would not be ready until 2031, Tasmania’s third season in the AFL and AFLW.
-AAP
North destroy Tigers, show off versatility
Cam Zurhaar shined in a new half-time role; North Melbourne made their best start to an AFL season in a decade with a 75-point thrashing of post-injury Richmond.
Paul Curtis kicked a career-high six goals as the Kangaroos secured their biggest margin of victory under Alastair Clarkson with a 20.10 (130) to 7.13 (55) win at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.
That leaves them with a 4-2 record and their strongest six-game comeback since a 9-0 opener in 2016, the last time they played in a final.
The Tigers lost acting captain Tim Taranto (concussion), Sam Banks (dislocated shoulder) and Maurice Rioli Jr (hamstring) to injuries and are 0-6 for their worst start since 2010.
It could have been a different story; Unfortunately the errant Tigers were 39 points behind at the main break despite scoring more points by that point.
“There’s not a lot of mercy in this game; you just have to do what you have to do to win football games,” Clarkson said.
“We were a little lucky to get the Tigers ready in terms of their injuries, but we still had to go out there and perform the way we wanted to.”
Young star Harry Sheezel recorded 39 disposals, seven clearances and a goal in an impressive display for the North; Luke Davies-Uniacke (26 positions), Colby McKercher (26) and George Wardlaw (25) are also important.
The explosive Zurhaar (23 disposals), often a threat in attack, was redeployed behind the ball, resulting in a game-high 644 metres.
North had no shortage of options in the front half, with Curtis, Cooper Trembath (three), Nick Larkey (two) and Zane Duursma (two) all playing at multiple majors.
Young gun Sam Lalor scored 22 disposals and a goal for Richmond, while Seth Campbell and Jack Ross (26 touches) added two majors each.
After Banks was injured in a tight challenge on Davies-Uniacke in the opening minutes, Curtis scored three goals in the first quarter to give North the early lead.
Tigers, who also lost Rioli before halftime, created many scoring opportunities but were repeatedly let down by poor finishing.
Richmond made them pay as the Kangaroos scored eight goals in a row to extend their lead to 47 points before the main break.
Taranto went out of the game early in the third term and North were sent off as Trembath entered the contest after being covered up by Noah Balta in the first half.
Tom Powell stood out with a football-style goal in late rush hour traffic and Curtis kicked the final three majors of the game as the Kangaroos won every quarter.
Young gun Sam Lalor stepped up for Richmond in Taranto’s absence and recorded 22 disposals and a goal while resting star Jacob Hopper.
Seth Campbell and Jack Ross (26 touches) added two majors each, but the understaffed Tigers failed to compete as they missed too many scoring opportunities early in the contest.
“When things start to move forward, you can feel the pressure increasing on whoever is going to take the next shot,” Richmond coach Adem Yze said.
“At half-time it went from 2.12 to 10.3 and they were taking everything into account, we didn’t and that could start to affect the morale of the group.
“When you paint the picture at half-time and draw all the key KPIs you want to be ahead of (if you are winning), the hardest thing is to tell the story when the scoreboard is telling you something different – especially with a young group.”
–AAP
High five Amiss as the Dockers crush the West Coast
Justin Chadwick
Jye Amiss scored a career-high five goals as Fremantle continued their dominance in the western derby with a 56-point win over West Coast in Perth.
The Eagles took a surprise lead early in the second quarter of Sunday’s match, but Fremantle held on to seal a 14.13 (97) to 5.11 (41) victory in front of 54,232 fans.
It was Fremantle’s ninth win in the last 10 derbies, but West Coast still lead 33-29 overall.
The Dockers’ fifth win on the trot kept them second in the standings with a 5-1 record, trailing only Sydney on percentage.
All-Australian defender Jordan Clark won the Glendinning-Allan medal for best away with 27 turnovers, one goal, 622 meters to gain and 11 score involvements.
Murphy Reid (26 disposals, 10 tackles) and Luke Jackson (29 clearances, 16 disposals, one goal) also played key roles.
Amiss had previously scored four goals on nine occasions but finally overcame that hurdle with a 50-yard field goal at the start of the final quarter.
The 22-year-old finished the race with a club record nine points in the 50 meters, leaving Matthew Pavlich’s eight points behind.
Amiss also had 13 disposals, a goal assist and 5.4 as West Coast attempted to cover all bases in the long Fremantle forward line of Amiss, Patrick Voss (three goals), Josh Treacy and Jackson.
AAP
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.
