Greg Dundas, Shayne Hope and Justin Chadwick
Updated ,first published
In todayโs AFL Briefing, your daily wrap of footy news:
- Three players have been offered one-week bans by the MRO after Saturdayโs play.
- North Melbourne inflicted another heavy defeat on the Tigers.
- Jye Amiss kicked a career-high five goals as Fremantle maintained their western derby dominance against the Eagles.
Two Hawks, one Sun offered one-match bans
Greg Dundas
Two of Hawthornโs prime-movers were offered suspensions and Port Adelaideโs Zak Butters copped another whack in the hip-pocket in the AFL match review officer findings from Saturdayโs three-point thriller at Marvel Stadium.
Skipper James Sicily and craft goalsneak Dylan Moore were the two Hawks given one-game bans, both for striking Portโs Logan Evans in the third quarter.
If they choose not to challenge those bans at a tribunal hearing, they will miss the Hawks round-seven clash with Gold Coast.
Butters โ Portโs acting captain โ was offered a $1000 fine for striking Hawthornโs Sam Butler in the same quarter of the same game. Heโs already booked in for a separate appeal hearing on Monday as he fights against a $1500 fine imposed on him by the AFL a week earlier.
The leagueโs tribunal last week found Butters guilty of directing abusive and insulting language at umpire Nick Foot in Portโs Gather Round loss to St Kilda.
Buttersโ teammate Joshua Lai was also fined $1000 for making careless contact with an umpire in Saturdayโs game, while there two penalties handed down from the game between Gold Coast and Essendon.
Sicily was caught on camera tangling with Evans off the ball, allegedly striking him in the midriff late in the third quarter. The undisciplined act resulted in Evans getting a shot at goal after the siren. The MRO deemed the contact was intentional and of medium impact.
Moore also gave Evans a free kick earlier in the quarter, with an act on his teamโs 50m line that was rated the same by the MRO.
The Suns face the prospect of not having defender John Noble for the clash against the Hawks after the MRO found heโd committed rough conduct against Bomber Thomas Edwards in the fourth quarter. Noble was found to have hit Edwards high, carelessly at medium contact.
He raised his arms and collected the Bomber as they competed for a ball near the boundary line on the Suns half-forward line, with Edwards rubbing his head behind his ear afterwards. Former captain Youk Miller was fined $1000 for making careless contact with an umpire in the same game.
North annihilate Tigers, showcase versatility
Cam Zurhaar has shone in a new role across halfback as North Melbourne franked their best start to an AFL season in a decade with a 75-point thumping of injury-hit bottom side Richmond.
With Paul Curtis kicking a career-high six goals, the Kangaroos logged their greatest winning margin under Alastair Clarkson in the 20.10 (130) to 7.13 (55) victory at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.
It lifts them to a 4-2 record and their strongest return through six games since a 9-0 opening to 2016, when they last played finals.
The Tigers lost acting captain Tim Taranto (concussion), Sam Banks (dislocated shoulder) and Maurice Rioli Jr (hamstring) to injuries, and are 0-6 in their worst start since 2010.
It could have been a different story, with the woefully inaccurate Tigers trailing by 39 points at the main break despite having more scoring shots to that point.
โThereโs not a hell of a lot of mercy in this game โ youโve just got to do what youโve got to do to win games of footy,โ Clarkson said.
โWe were a little bit fortunate we got the Tigers on the hop in terms of their injuries, but we still needed to go out and perform the way that we wanted to.โ
Young star Harry Sheezel tallied 39 disposals, seven clearances and one goal in an influential display for North, with Luke Davies-Uniacke (26 possesions), Colby McKercher (26) and George Wardlaw (25) also important.
Usually a threat in attack, the explosive Zurhaar (23 disposals) was redeployed behind the ball and had a game-high 644 metres gained.
North had no shortage of options in the front half as Curtis, Cooper Trembath (three), Nick Larkey (two) and Zane Duursma (two) kicked multiple majors.
Young gun Sam Lalor had 22 disposals and one goal for Richmond, while Seth Campbell and Jack Ross (26 touches) added two majors each.
After Banks was hurt in a crunching Davies-Uniacke tackle in the opening minutes, Curtis kicked three first-quarter goals to give North the early ascendancy.
The Tigers, who also lost Rioli before half-time, created plenty of scoring opportunities but repeatedly let themselves down with poor finishing.
Richmond paid a price as the Kangaroos piled on eight consecutive goals and blew the lead out to 47 points before the main break.
Taranto was out of action early in the third term and North kicked away as Trembath, who was blanketed by Noah Balta in the first half, worked his way into the contest.
Tom Powell provided a highlight with a soccer-style goal off the deck through heavy traffic in the final term and the Kangaroos won every quarter, with Curtis kicking the last three majors of the match.
Young gun Sam Lalor stepped up for Richmond in the absence of Taranto and rested star Jacob Hopper, tallying 22 disposals and one goal.
Seth Campbell and Jack Ross (26 touches) added two majors each, but the undermanned Tigers were unable to fight back after blowing too many scoring opportunities early in the contest.
โWhen it starts ticking over you could sense the pressure was building on whoever was taking the next shot,โ Richmond coach Adem Yze said.
โAt halftime itโs 2.12 to 10.3 and they were making everything count, and we werenโt, and it can start to affect the morale of the group.
โWhen you paint the picture at halftime and (you are winning) all the main KPIs that you want to be in front of, the hardest thing is telling the story when the scoreboardโs telling you something different – especially when itโs a young group.โ
โ AAP
Hi-five for Amiss as Dockers crush West Coast
Justin Chadwick
Jye Amiss has kicked a career-high five goals as Fremantle maintained their western derby dominance with a 56-point win over West Coast in Perth.
The Eagles took a surprise lead early in the second quarter of Sundayโs match, but Fremantle steadied to seal the 14.13 (97) to 5.11 (41) win in front of 54,232 fans.
It marked Fremantleโs ninth win from the past 10 derbies, but West Coast still hold a 33-29 lead in the overall tally.
The Dockersโ fifth win on the trot kept them in second spot on the ladder with a 5-1 record, behind Sydney on percentage only.
All-Australian defender Jordan Clark won the Glendinning-Allan medal as best afield for his 27 disposals, one goal, 622m gained and 11 score involvements.
Murphy Reid (26 disposals, 10 score involvements) and Luke Jackson (29 hitouts, 16 disposals, one goals) also played important roles.
Amiss had kicked four goals on nine previous occasions, but he finally cracked through that barrier early in the final quarter when he nailed a 50m set shot.
The 22-year-old finished with a club-record nine marks inside 50m, beating Matthew Pavlichโs tally of eight.
Amiss also notched 13 disposals, one goal assist and 5.4 as West Coast struggled to cover all bases in a tall Fremantle forward line containing Amiss, Patrick Voss (three goals), Josh Treacy and Jackson.
AAP
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