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Collingwood star Jordan De Goey has been sent straight to the Tribunal for his high bump that concussed West Coast’s Elijah Hewett on Saturday afternoon.
The hit was graded as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact by Match Review Officer Michael Christian, which carries with it a minimum of a three-match suspension – which would see him miss the Magpies’ crucial clashes with Melbourne on King’s Birthday, Adelaide and Gold Coast.
De Goey laid out the 18-year old first-year player during the second quarter of the Magpies’ win over the Eagles, with Hewett failing a head injury assessment that ruled him out of the rest of the match as well as next week’s clash with Adelaide.
Speaking to Western Australian radio station 6PR after the match, Eagles midfielder Dom Sheed, who celebrated his 150th game in their loss to the Magpies, called for De Goey’s ban to be a whopper.
“I actually didn’t see it… I kept looking at the big screen and kept missing it. But I heard it was pretty bad,” Sheed said of the bump.
“Watching it back now, I think he deserves a good month or two on the sidelines.”
Other Eagles have been quick to express their regret for not flying the flag for Hewett, with teammate Greg Clark saying the lack of response to De Goey was ‘a bit embarrassing’.
“Personally it was a bit embarrassing, for the team at the time, that we didn’t come in to help ‘Hewie’,” Clark said to the West Australian.
“He’s an 18-year-old, he hasn’t played much AFL, and to get hit like that was massive.
“It’s just a bit of a show of support that we really care for our young boys. When they’re out there, they need to know that we have their backs. Personally I felt a bit bad for not remonstrating.”
Magpies coach Craig McRae has come to De Goey’s defence, describing the incident as one of ‘split seconds’.
“Do I go in and tackle, do I bump, or smother? These happen so many times in a game,” McRae said.
“These split-second decisions that you make, whether you bump or smother, they have to make them out there. It’s hard to practice for those.
“I hope the young lad’s okay. That’s where our concern goes to.”
However, the football world has reacted far more harshly, with outspoken media presenter Kane Cornes describing the hit as a ‘cheap shot’.
“I think that is a weak act… I see it as similar to Tom Stewart’s on Dion Prestia,” Cornes said on the Sunday Footy Show.
“The ball is gone there, he jumps, leaves the ground, and hits an 18-year old in the head.
“I think it’s really poor – I don’t think there’s any excuses for it.”
Speaking on Channel 7, former Essendon captain Jobe Watson was also unimpressed.
“If he got three [weeks] Collingwood would say ‘absolutely, we’ll take it’,” Watson said.
“Four or five is probably not far away from being reasonable, given the outcome. We’re really trying to stamp that out of the game.”
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