Karmichael Hunt’s best game so far for Gold Coast had a sour postscript when he received his first AFL suspension. The match review panel suspended the star rugby league convert for two games, ruling on Monday he had made front-on contact with young Geelong ruckman Nathan Vardy.
Hunt can accept a one-match ban with an early plea.
Vardy was trying to pick the ball up in the first term on Saturday night at Carrara when he collided with Hunt.
The ruckman was floored by the contact and a stretcher was called, but Vardy was able to walk from the field and he returned in the second term.
The incident was assessed as negligent, medium impact and high contact.
Hunt had 12 possessions against the Cats and also kicked his first goal, a booming shot on the run from outside 50m that delighted teammates and the Suns fans.
Regardless of the match review panel, Gold Coast had considered resting Hunt from Saturday’s game against West Coast in Perth.
The former Brisbane Bronco suffered cramps in the third term on Saturday night and is one of only seven Suns to be picked for every game so far this season.
“At some stage he is going to have a rest and he did cramp up, so that could be next week. It’s a big ground in Perth, all those sorts of things,” said Suns coach Guy McKenna.
North Melbourne defender Michael Firrito can also reduce his two-game ban to one match with an early plea.
He was charged with rough conduct against Sydney forward Ryan O’Keefe and carryover points increased the penalty to two matches.
But the suspension goes back to one game if Firrito decides not to take his case to the tribunal.
Firrito is also lucky not to be charged with striking Lewis Jetta.
He threw his arm back and caught Jetta in the groin after the Swan tackled him but the panel ruled the force was not enough to warrant a report.
St Kilda utility Brett Peake can reduce his one-match ban for striking Fremantle’s Dylan Roberton to a reprimand if he does not contest the charge.
The same goes for Collingwood ruckman Cameron Wood, who received a one-match suspension for rough conduct against West Coast opponent Dean Cox.
Magpies midfielder Luke Ball was reprimanded for tripping, while Melbourne onballer Colin Sylvia and Adelaide youngster Rory Sloane can take $900 fines for negligent umpire contact.
Richmond star Trent Cotchin, Geelong forward Cameron Mooney and Hawthorn onballer Jordan Lewis were cleared of illegal contact with opponents.
Nick the second
Guest
So now that Hunt is ruled out and all the RL supporters have seen such a soft suspension will RL NSW and QLD tune in next weekend without 'their star' and proving that it isnt a physical contest? I am surprised Andrew didnt have a word to the MRP to get Hunt off the charges.
JamesP
Guest
All public tickets were sold karlos. We've been through this many many times. MCG for example could sell all public tickets, which means crowd could be anywhere between 80k - 100k. Collingwood game should also be in the 20k - 25k vicinity.
Exactly! Now we see more and more players rushing in with their heads down trying to milk the free kick. If we are going to penalize the players for front on contact then we should also rule against those who intentionally try to make it happen.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
The Cattery, The problem with that theory is it encourages you to risk very serious neck injuries to win free kicks. In my view, protection of the neck has to go both ways - you should get pinged *harder* for recklessly endangering your own neck.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Simulcast on One. Five city metro = 617k, incl 113k in Brisbane, which was greater than Perth's ratings. A figure approaching 900k would include regionals.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Well, about 900k is very, very close to 1 in 20 persons in Australia.
karlos
Guest
So which game was it as Ten didn't say who was playing in the ratings I looked at which showed the AFL at 11th place with 526,000, 15th with 415,000 and 34th with some dismal number? Will look further.
betamax
Roar Guru
This is a wind up, right?
The Cattery
Roar Guru
When a blokes got his head over the ball like that, a front on hit directed at the head can cause very serious neck injuries. Our game has a philosophy that you try to protect the head of the bloke making an attempt to win the ball as much as is practicable.
karlos
Guest
My God that was soft. And only a few days after his 'AFL is tougher than Rugby League" quip was promoted out of context. Not looked at ratings for game, but was suprised that they didn't get a full house for new stadium.
NF
Guest
Red One thing to note is it's the Sun's first season so novelty value and hype goes with it being higher for now. Once the years rolled on we see there true support. Every debut team has had good averages eg Adelaide Rams (15k) but we all knew how they turn out so let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. Suns & Lions both have there place as a niche in QLD good for them.
Red
Guest
Interesting that the Gold Coast Suns already get bigger attendances than the Titans. On top of that the tv ratings from last Saturday night indicated that almost 1 in 20 persons in the entire of Australia watched the Suns play the Cats. Any wonder AFL is able to pull in one and a half billion smackers.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
I originally thought Karmichael would be ok, thinking that he merely stood his ground, and the other player rushed head first into him. But in fact Hunt does make a noticeable move with his body towards the Geelong player's head. Negligent and medium contact, one week if he pleads guilty - decision is spot on.
Aware
Guest
The suspension was right because he contacted an unprotected player's head with his shoulder dipped. But the usual inconsistency of the AFL judiciary was seen when other equally dangerous incidents were given the all clear in other games. Even in the same game, Moody got cleared for throwing his elbow back at a player and Moody has a very bad record.
Ian Syson
Guest
It's a real shame . . . he can't win the Brownlow now.
Redb
Roar Guru
Some predictable responses. Learn the MRP rules.
JamesP
Guest
Lets take a bit of a chil pil. The GABBA was progressively expanded over the late 90's early 00's, due to constant sell outs. Once it got to its present 42k capacity, it has barely sold out once. Yes I know the Lions have bottomed out, but no doubt they have lost a bit of support to the Suns. Speaking of which I know they were aiming for 15k members in their first seasion...looks like they will barely crawl to 14k...which is not to be sneezed at...its more than the Titans could manage... Havign said all that, its clear that Metricon has been built with expansion in mind with a big chunk missing where the massive scoreboard is. If/when the Suns constantly sell out the place (like the Eagles and more recently Freo have been doing in Perth), I'm sure Anna (or whoever the new premier will be) will come to the party.
TW
Guest
Karmichael Hunt has a rest this week - However the Suns management will be pleased with his and the teams performance for the first half at least last Saturday. When they get up and running for a full game at full bore in a year or two there will be smiles alround. The Suns are attracting a bit of attention on the TV it seems and with their membership now at 13574 and heading for 14,000 it would seem the AFL bosses would be happy. We could ponder perhaps in the future with a ground capacity of 25,000 and their membership reaching that figure we may have another WA Eagles/ Subiaco oval seating situation eventually. Although we will have our 60,000 seat stadium by 2016. Link to ratings article. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/fans-switch-on-to-new-stadium-20110530-1fcrl.html
Tigger Madness
Guest
"Front on collision" I thought this was meant to be a contact sport?
maf1974
Guest
An appaling decision by the MRP but its what we have come to expect. I am a Geelong supporter and even I cannot fathom how he has copped 2 weeks for this - the bloke was stationery and Vardy was being pushed into him by another Suns player. Yes Vardy left the ground but returned and played out the game so I don't see how a "medical report" can be taken into account unless the Geelong medico's are negligent for allowing him back on the ground. The game is not basketball but the way the MRP are looking at things it is very quickly turning into it (and on another matter the number of throws that players are getting away with each week is making it more like basketball also)