Toby Bedford will front the AFL tribunal next Monday as GWS try to overturn his one-game ban for rough conduct.
The Giants small forward is out of their elimination final on Saturday week against St Kilda at the MCG if the challenge fails.
Bedford was charged for his block on Carlton defender Zac Fisher in the third quarter of Sunday’s win at Marvel Stadium.
The contact was graded as careless, medium impact and high contact.
GWS unsuccessfully challenged Bedford’s one-game game earlier this season for a dangerous tackle.
Bedford has played 16 games in his first season at the Giants after he was traded from Melbourne.
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir is confident Sean Darcy will stay at the club for many more years despite the late-season emergence of Luke Jackson in the ruck.
Darcy is contracted until the end of 2024, but the Victorian is being heavily targeted by Geelong on what shapes to be a monster deal.
The Dockers are desperate to hang onto Darcy for the long term, with the 25-year-old now entering the peak of his career.
When asked if Darcy is guaranteed to be at Fremantle next season, Longmuir replied: “As far as I’m concerned, yeah, and for many years to come in my opinion.”
While the ruck experiment of Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy failed at Melbourne, there were plenty of promising signs when Darcy and Jackson teamed up this season at Freo.
(Photo by Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
But complicating matters was the fact that Jackson played his best footy after Darcy went down with a season-ending ankle injury in round 18.
Jackson was a dominant force in the ruck and at ground level after that, with his late purple patch earning him a berth in the extended 44-man All-Australian squad.
Although Darcy has spent stints in attack, his best position is clearly in the ruck.
Jackson has shown big promise up forward, and Longmuir also has the option to play the 21-year-old as a big-bodied midfielder.
Longmuir believes Darcy and Jackson will both thrive in the same team. “Through the middle part of the year when we played our best footy, they were both playing,” Longmuir said.
“It gives us more flexibility to use Jacko in different ways. I don’t see them as two rucks. I see Luke totally different. I see them working well together and being able to fit in the same team.”
The Dockers ended this season in 14th spot with a 10-13 record.
But with Fremantle boasting one of the most talented young lists in the competition, Longmuir is confident of a quick rebound next year.
And he believes a big part of the team’s problems in 2023 were purely mental, such as their struggles to deal with external expectations. “Largely it will be around the mindset we need to take into the off-season and take into the next pre-season,” Longmuir said.
“That’s the bigger thing to learn from than the Xs and Os.
“Everyone externally loves to talk about magnets on whiteboards. But there’s been a real human element from this season that we need to learn from.”
Spearhead Matt Taberner, who was sidelined for most of the season after undergoing surgery, re-injured his back in the WAFL last weekend. Longmuir says the injury isn’t serious, and expects Taberner to hit the pre-season at full pace.
Adam Simpson will remain as West Coast coach after the embattled AFL club’s board “unanimously agreed” he should continue in the role.
There had been growing speculation that Simpson would be sacked, given the Eagles finished bottom this season and have won only five games in the past two years.
This year’s wooden spoon campaign was particularly bad, with the Eagles losing five matches by more than 100 points. The worst was a 171-point defeat to Sydney in round 15.
But with Simpson contracted until the end of 2025 on a lucrative deal, it would have been a costly exercise for West Coast to cut ties with him this early. Simpson’s $800,000-a-season deal coupled with the AFL’s luxury tax meant the Eagles faced a payout approaching $6 million if they decided to axe him.
West Coast’s board met on Monday, with the Eagles releasing a statement confirming Simpson would stay on as coach.
“At the meeting today the board unanimously agreed that Adam will remain as senior coach,” Eagles chairman Paul Fitzpatrick said in a statement. “No one knows our playing list better than Adam and he has already steered us through the first phase of the rebuild.
“We are confident he can take us forward and take us where we aspire to be.
(Photo by Daniel Carson/AFL Media/Getty Images)
“Our season came to an end on Saturday night and we finished at the foot of the premiership table.
“That does not sit well with anyone at the club and we are all aware that there is much work to be done to return as a force in the competition.
“We will again go to the draft where we currently hold the first selection and we will look to bring in some elite youngsters with that and other selections.
“We are also open to bringing in players through the trade period who fit our needs and list profile.
“Adam is central to our development plans to assist the club’s rise up the ladder.”
West Coast’s board had steadfastly backed Simpson for most of the season, but the signs looked ominous when there was deathly silence following the 101-point loss to Fremantle in round 22.
A shock seven-point win over the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium a week later revived hopes Simpson would be kept on.
A fan-led petition to retain Simpson attracted more than 5200 signatures.
The 10-year coach received huge cheers whenever he was shown on the Optus Stadium big screen during last week’s 45-point loss to Adelaide.
Senior players such as Jeremy McGovern, Luke Shuey and Tim Kelly were vocal in their support of the coach, and Simpson received the good news on Monday that he would be retained. Simpson led West Coast to the 2018 premiership, joining Mick Malthouse and John Worsfold as the only other coaches to have tasted flag success at the club.
Shuey, Naitanui and Shannon Hurn all retired this year, sparking the end of an era for the club.
The silver lining of West Coast’s wooden spoon is the No.1 pick at the national draft. The Eagles can either use it to snare boom Victorian midfielder Harley Reid, or trade it to a rival club for up to three first-round picks in return.
Richmond’s Tyler Sonsie will not face a lengthier suspension for his cheap shot in the VFL after an appeal against his original three-match ban failed.
The VFL challenged its tribunal’s initial sanction at a hearing on Monday night by arguing three matches was insufficient for the off-the-ball hit on North Melbourne’s Tom Cappellari.
Even though his team was up by a couple of goals late in the contest, Sonsie gets caught up with Cappellari on the boundary line and when he gets back to his feet, he strikes his Kangaroos rival on the chin.
After the incident was graded intentional conduct with severe impact and high contact, there were calls for Sonsie to face a much longer ban but with an early guilty plea, he was only given three games on the sidelines.
In its appeal, the VFL argued “because the incident was graded as severe impact, it was sent directly to the VFL Tribunal with a base sanction of 5+ matches in accordance with the classification”.
The 20-year-old forward was drafted in 2021, making his debut the following season and has kicked three goals in 10 matches at AFL level.
Luckless Melbourne forward Jake Melksham will miss another opportunity to win an AFL flag after scans confirmed he has ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
But it was good news for Carlton, with wingman Blake Acres a chance to play in week one of the finals after being cleared of a fractured collarbone.
The Demons were dealt a double dose of “devastating” news on Monday when it was confirmed Melksham and Luke Dunstan had suffered ACL tears.
Melksham, who has kicked 16 goals since being recalled in round 16, ruptured his ACL while trying to change direction during the third quarter of Melbourne’s 21-point win over Sydney on Sunday.
The timing of the blow is particularly cruel for Melksham, who missed out on the Demons’ 2021 flag.
Melksham turns 32 on Tuesday, and it remains to be seen if he’ll earn a new deal at Melbourne on the back of the long-term knee injury.
Dunstan, who hasn’t featured for the Demons at senior level this season, suffered his ACL tear while playing in the VFL over the weekend.
Melbourne finished fourth on the ladder and will face minor premiers Collingwood in a qualifying final on Thursday, September 7 at the MCG.
“Unfortunately, scans confirmed the worst for Jake and Luke this afternoon,” Melbourne’s general manager of AFL Performance Alan Richardson said in a statement.
“It is incredibly disappointing news for both players, particularly on the eve of an AFL and VFL Finals Series. It really is a cruel part of our game.
“Jake and Luke have played very important roles for us in recent weeks and have done so with class and character.
“It is devastating to lose them at this point, but I have no doubt they will apply the same attitude and commitment to their respective rehabs.”
Acres injured himself in Carlton’s 32-point loss to GWS on Sunday.
Scans have shown no fracture to his collarbone, but he will still need to pass a fitness test in order to play in the elimination final against Sydney on September 8.
The Blues expect skipper Patrick Cripps (soreness) and Sam Docherty (calf) to be fit to face Sydney.
with AAP
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