A guilty plea and clear contrition wasn’t enough to save Essendon defender Conor McKenna from a three-game suspension for biting at Tuesday’s AFL Tribunal hearing.
McKenna pleaded guilty to the charge of serious misconduct in the 90-minute hearing at the AFL’s Etihad Stadium headquarters.
Jury members Wayne Henwood, Stewart Loewe and Michael Jamison deliberated for six minutes before arriving at the penalty for biting Western Bulldogs forward Tory Dickson.
The Irishman offered a short statement, but didn’t take questions as he left the hearing.
“I’d like to take full responsibility for my actions,” McKenna said.
“I’m really sorry for what I’ve done and I’m just looking forward to moving on now.”
The 22-year-old will miss Sunday’s home game against Port Adelaide, the Anzac Day clash against Collingwood and the round-six encounter with Melbourne.
The incident occurred during the second quarter of Essendon’s 21-point loss to the Dogs at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
McKenna was tackled to the ground by Dickson and they had a brief scuffle with the Bomber pinning his opponent to the ground.
Dickson appeared to complain to Bulldogs staff when he ran to the bench immediately after the incident.
Dickson and Bulldogs football chief Ben Graham met with the Bombers’ legal team before the tribunal hearing but the forward was not required to give evidence.
In written submissions, the contact was described by Dickson as a “quick nip” that didn’t break the skin and required no treatment.
Photo evidence that showed a small red mark near Dickson’s Adam’s Apple was also submitted.
McKenna was not called to give evidence in his defence.
Retired Sydney Swans premiership star and countryman Tadgh Kennelly gave McKenna a glowing character reference via a telephone link.
TAC Cup coach and senior Victoria Police officer Marty Allison was also due to give a character reference, but two attempts to contact him went through to voicemail.
Former AFL football chief Adrian Anderson represented McKenna.
He made several references to a previous case of biting in which West Coast’s Chris Masten was suspended for two games for biting Fremantle’s Nick Suban.
Anderson argued the penalty should be a minimum of a financial fine and a maximum ban of two matches.
Jeff Gleeson QC acting for the AFL recommended a three-game suspension was appropriate given McKenna’s guilty plea, clear remorse and apology.
A lot has been made of the pain the Essendon Football Club and its supporters have suffered since 2012, with the supplements scandal and subsequent sanctions leading to a wooden spoon in 2016, but really this once-proud club has been in the wilderness since they won the premiership in 2000.
Dylan Shiel has dropped the first bombshell of the 2018 AFL trade period, nominating Essendon as his preferred trade destination, shunning what were believed to be his three most likely suitors in Carlton, Hawthorn and St Kilda in the process.
Now that the gripping conclusion to Fremantle’s season has passed, I figured it was time to get back to Carnage’s story.
Essendon’s 2018 season really was a case of sliding doors. If they had not lost a game to Carlton (giving that club one of the only two wins it achieved in the season) there was every chance that the Dons would have made the final eight as one of the in-form teams.
After rising all the way from spoon to finals in 2017 and going on a recruiting spree to finish the year, Essendon slid back out of Septemeber in 2018.
After the 2017 AFL trade period many thought Essendon had moved closer to their first premiership since 2000.
