Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Hawthorn midfielder Conor Nash has been sent directly to the AFL tribunal for his round-arm hit on Gryan Miers, while Bailey Smith has been fined for slamming the football into the face of Jarman Impey.
Miers was left concussed in Monday’s epic battle at the MCG, having been knocked out by Nash’s errant arm to the head in the third quarter of the Cats’ seven-point win.
Gryan Miers was forced from the field after this incident with Conor Nash.Credit: Seven Footy
The incident occurred at a stoppage when Nash flung his arm at Miers as the Cats’ forward grabbed the ball and struck him in the head.
Miers did not take any further part in the game, and will not face Carlton at the MCG on Sunday.
Match review officer Michael Christian assessed Nash’s hit as careless conduct and severe impact with high contact.
Nash, who was reported immediately by umpires, will now appear before the AFL tribunal where he faces a ban of possibly four matches. The Hawks’ next four games are against West Coast, Richmond, Melbourne and Gold Coast.
Hawks coach Sam Mitchell said on Monday that given Miers was concussed, he expected the midfielder to face scrutiny. He also said the incident probably impacted on Nash, who is not known for that sort of action.
“His numbers certainly dwindled after that,” Mitchell said.
Fremantle’s Patrick Voss was suspended for three matches for a swinging arm which left Richmond’s Nick Vlastuin with a broken nose in round five. However, Vlastuin was not concussed.
Smith was fined $3125, reduced to $1875 with an early plea, for a misconduct charge, having slammed the footy into Impey’s face on the boundary line.
Heavy hit: Gryan Miers is helped from the field as Conor Nash watches on.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
He apologised for his actions after the game.
“It was a bit of a carry on. I shouldn’t have done that. But it’s Easter Monday, I get fired up … bit of fun, all in the spirit of the game,” Smith said.
He was also fined $3125, reduced to $1875 with an early plea, for an obscene gesture, flipping the bird, at Hawks’ supporters as he left the field during the game.
It’s the second time in as many weeks Smith has been fined for flipping the bird, having also done so to the Adelaide Oval crowd after the Gather Round win over the Crows.
Balls up: Bailey Smith and Jarman Impey get into it.Credit: Seven
Cats coach Chris Scott said he would not seek to take the theatre out of Smith’s play.
“It was that minor it’s not even funny. Often it’s the retaliator that cops the free kick against. I think it’s so minor that I wouldn’t worry about it; we don’t condone it, but we’re much more interested in a pattern,” Scott said post-match.
“Even the fact I’ve spoken about it too much probably gives it too much airtime.
“We get that he’s high profile, and I wouldn’t necessarily coach anyone to behave exactly the way Bailey does, but he is what he is, and our job is to shape him. We knew he was going to come in and be a bit different to players that we’ve had in our system before, but we made a commitment to embrace it and help.
“He is 23, by the way, he is going to evolve. It’s not just Bailey, we’ve got other guys that need to pick and choose their moments. He came off the ground and the crowd is into him – I don’t buy into that much but my suggestion is the crowd loved it, the AFL loved it and I reckon Bailey loves it as well.”
Meanwhile, Essendon defender Jayden Laverde has been given a two-match suspension for headbutting in a VFL clash against Port Melbourne on Saturday night.
Laverde was cited for an incident involving Port Melbourne’s Jimmy Miller in the Bombers’ 16-point win. The suspension is also upheld in the AFL. Laverde can opt to challenge the ban.
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