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Caretaker coach Andrew McQualter says he will look into an incident in which Maurice Rioli refused to take a phone call from the coaching staff during Richmond’s 38-point win over West Coast.
Rioli was grumpily slumped on the bench after being subbed off in the last quarter when a Richmond staff member attempted to hand him the phone that has a direct line to the coaching box.
When Rioli didn’t react, another staff member seated on the other side of him tapped him on the shoulder to make sure he knew the phone was being handed to him.
Rioli, who tallied just six disposals for the match, continued to glare straight ahead in frustration before snubbing the phone with a wave of his hand.
McQualter wasn’t the coach on the phone at the time, and said he didn’t want to comment too much on the incident before looking into it.
“The reality is I’ve been subbed off before and it’s not a nice feeling,” McQualter said.
“I understand – young kid, he’s trying to make his way. I understand if he was disappointed. So he’ll be ok.
“I’m not exactly sure how it played out at that time. So whatever happened, we’ll deal with it when we need to.
“I’ll probably just wait until I understand the situation fully before I comment on it any further.”
The Tigers set up the 14.14 (98) to 8.12 (60) win on Sunday with a six-goal blitz spread either side of half-time.
Although 11th-placed Richmond (8-1-8) failed to give their percentage a huge boost, they are now just half a win adrift of the sixth-placed St Kilda, seventh-placed Western Bulldogs, and eighth-placed Essendon.
Shai Bolton finished with 2.4 from 23 disposals against West Coast, while veteran Dustin Martin tallied 23 possessions, four clearances and 2.2 in a lively display.
Martin could be in trouble for an off-the-ball elbow to the midriff of Eagles defender Alex Witherden, but the incident is more likely to attract a fine rather than suspension.
“We don’t want any of those actions to cost us off the ball, because ultimately it hurts the team,” McQualter said.
“I’m not sure there’s anything too much further in it, is there? So hopefully it doesn’t happen again.”
West Coast veteran Andrew Gaff came on as the sub in the first quarter when Reuben Ginbey succumbed to a hamstring injury.
Gaff, who tallied just six disposals against Brisbane last week, finished with 24 possessions in a much improved display.
Forward Oscar Allen kicked three goals after overcoming a wrist injury scare in the second quarter.
Eagles forward Jack Darling kicked his 500th career goal late in the third term, sparking a huge cheer among the 40,501 fans in attendance.
“He probably goes down as one of our greats … and he’s still got some footy left in him,” Eagles coach Adam Simpson said of Darling, who finished with 1.3 and seven marks from 16 disposals.
Carlton’s Jordan Boyd is facing a ban of at least three matches after being sent directly to the AFL Tribunal for his dump tackle on Port Adelaide’s Darcy Byrne-Jones.
And Adelaide forward Josh Rachele has been slapped with a two-match ban for striking GWS forward Jack Buckley.
Boyd pinned the arms of Byrne-Jones and drove him into the turf after the Port defender had dribbled a kick forward.
Byrne-Jones was subbed out of the game with concussion.
The AFL’s match review officer classified the incident as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact, with the AFL Tribunal to decide Boyd’s fate on Tuesday night.
Rachele’s hit to the face of Buckley was graded as intentional conduct, medium impact and high contact, drawing a two-match ban.
It means he’ll miss key games against Melbourne and Port Adelaide unless he successfully challenges the ban.
Rachele was also fined $1500 for a wrestling incident, as was Giants utility Harry Perryman.
And the pain to the hip pocket didn’t stop there for Rachele, who also received a $1500 fine for a misconduct incident against Connor Idun.
Rachele’s eventful night has since been slammed around the AFL world, with former great Matthew Lloyd urging the young Crow to ‘pull his head in’ on the Sunday Footy Show.
However, after the match, Crows coach Matthew Nicks came to his defece.
“Josh is such a competitor that he’s frustrated that there are things that aren’t necessarily going his way,” Nicks told reporters.
“We had a brief chat. He gathered himself quite well at halftime. He could look me in the eye and say, ‘look, I’m good, I’m ready to go’.
“The team was going well at that point, so he’s now got to knuckle down and enjoy that part of it, that the team’s playing well, it might be that it’s not necessarily going well for him.”
Essendon captain Zach Merrett was fined $1500 for staging for a free kick, but can accept a $1000 fine with an early plea.
Richmond’s Dustin Martin could be in trouble for an off-the-ball elbow to the midriff of West Coast’s Alex Witherden.
Sydney have also announced they will challenge co-captain Dane Rampe’s two match ban for a bump on Bulldog Lachie McNeil that resulted in a post-match failed concussion test.
© AAP
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