Melbourne will probably be with out livewire ahead Kysaiah Pickett for his or her bumper conflict with the Brisbane Lions after failing to overturn a one-match suspension.
The Demons fronted the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday night time in a bid to cut back Pickett’s tough conduct cost for his problem on Adelaide’s Jake Soligo from medium contact to low.
Pickett jumped off the bottom and made glancing contact along with his opponent’s head throughout Melbourne’s 15-point win at Adelaide Oval on Thursday.
Though Soligo completed the sport and subsequently performed down the incident, Pickett was handed his third ban because the begin of final season – this time for careless conduct, medium affect and excessive contact.
The membership argued Pickett didn’t intend to bump Soligo however as a substitute was bracing for affect, however tribunal chairman Jeff Gleeson upheld the medium contact cost after lower than half an hour of deliberation.
“The contact had the potential to cause injury. A concussion or facial injury was a realistically possible outcome,” Gleeson mentioned on Tuesday.
“The impact to Soligo’s head was plain to see. He was knocked off his feet and immediately held his face in obvious pain or discomfort.”
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Pickett didn’t face the tribunal however submitted a written assertion.
“I was tracking the ball after the centre bounce and was moving towards it when Jake Soligo took possession,” the 22-year-old mentioned within the assertion.
“When I got close, I raised both of my arms in the air and reached to intercept the ball after Soligo hand balled.
“My intention was to catch the ball. I collided with Soligo and then followed the ball to make the next contest until the umpire blew the whistle.
“I had no intention of bumping Jake Soligo. I was trying to intercept the ball in the air.”
The ruling comes a month after Pickett’s teammate Angus Brayshaw was pressured into untimely retirement due to concussion.
Brayshaw, 28, was concussed a number of occasions all through his profession, most just lately in a collision with Collingwood’s Brayden Maynard throughout final yr’s finals.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au