Boundary range drama in the final stages of West Coast win, Xerri’s “blood wipe” sent right to tribunal

Xerri to encounter tribunal on major misbehavior charge

Roy Ward, Marc McGowan, and Jake Niall

North Melbourne ruckman Tristan Xerri may face the court on a cost of critical wrongdoing after he appeared to slander his body on an opponent, an action condemned by league boss Andrew Dillon as” something we don’t want to see” in football.

Xerri appeared to wipe his bruised hands on the face of Essendon pilot Andy McGrath during North’s 12-point victory at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night, sparking discussion about his actions and, if found guilty, how much his ban should go.

The Roos ruckman called McGrath on Sunday and apologised. He will show up at the AFL court on Monday evening.

Speaking outside the MCG on Sunday, AFL CEO Dillon gave a powerful message about Xerri’s reported activities.

Dillon remarked,” We don’t want to see it on our areas.”

Sydney league player Cameron Ling– the victim of one of the AFL’s second “blood wiping” case more than two decades ago when Nathan Buckley copped a ban – says he views the practice different now than he did in 2002.

” Now I’m looking at myself with my older, sometimes wiser, head.” We don’t want this in our game”, Ling told the ABC after Xerri’s controversial altercation with McGrath.

That is not a football field player’s acceptable behavior.

AFL commentator Kate McCarthy didn’t mince words about her thoughts on Xerri’s act.

McCarthy called it” a grubby act” on AFL’s The Round So Far show.

” I would hope that Tristan Xerri looks back on that moment and regrets what he has done because, for me, it’s very grubby and a disgusting act that we don’t want to see in football at all.

However, Tony Shaw, a legend in Collingwood, claimed on 3AW on Saturday night that Xerri should apologize and pay a sizable fine rather than miss a game. He altered that view on Sunday.

I told him to get a week, but I still believe we need to work together occasionally. Sookies.”

Ling, a legend in Geelong, was directly involved in a well-known blood-cure case in 2002 when Buckley wiped blood on Ling’s jumper, forcing him to leave the field in accordance with the blood rule.

” I was 21 in 2002 and played 25 games or something like that – back then, I thought’ what’s the big deal?’ Lin told ABC’s AFL Sunday.

” He didn’t have any malice, he just wanted me to come off the field and not have the advantage.

Selfishly, I didn’t want to pay too much attention to that particular incident and why he was bleeding in the first place, which gave me a one-week suspension as well.

Misconduct covers any act which would be “reasonably regarded as unacceptable or unsportsmanlike, or where it had the effect or potential to prejudice the reputation of any person, club or the AFL or to bring the game of football into disrepute”, the guidelines say.

Xerri would miss a winnable marquee Good Friday game against Carlton if she was suspended.

Meanwhile, Dillon also addressed allegations that St Kilda’s Lance Collard used a homophobic slur in a VFL game. The integrity unit of the league is looking into.

” At the moment, that’s being investigated, and it is an allegation, so we’ll look into that”, he said.

We don’t want to deal with it, they say.

‘ Evolving ‘ Eagles score stunning comeback win over Port

After defeating Port Adelaide by two points, West Coast’s coach is hailed for a new-found resilience, marking the first time in almost two years that it has won consecutively.

But Andrew McQualter isn’t yet prepared to say his Eagles have risen from their lengthy doldrums.

After a gutsy 13.14 92 to 13.12 ( 8 ) victory at Adelaide Oval, he declared,” We’re evolving as a team, we’re evolving as a club, and we feel like we’re making progress.”

” But we’re still going to have a lot of challenges in front of us”.

The Eagles, who hadn’t won a game in a row since rounds six and seven in 2024, fell 29 points behind just five minutes into the second quarter.

McQualter admired the spirit of his players to fight back without veteran Elliot Yeo, who suffered a groin injury.

He said,” The group’s resilience is just starting to shine through.” ” Young and old players stood up in huge moments”.

Late in the contest, the contentious video-review system from the AFL was required once more.

But unlike Thursday night’s game in Geelong where an incorrect call was made by the umpires on the field and not reviewed, this time play was held up so the correct call could be made.

With about a minute left to play, the Eagles were denied a free kick that had been given to them, and a boundary throw-in was required. That decision gave Port Adelaide some hope of overturning the one-point deficit they faced at the time, but West Coast managed to gain possession of the ball and took it forward to score one more behind and secure their second win of the season.

Three days after the controversy halfway through the final eight-point game between Geelong and Adelaide at GMHBA Stadium, the AFL Review Centre ( ARC ) was used late in Sunday’s game.

The day after that game the AFL admitted that Geelong’s Tom Atkins received a last-touch free kick when the ball had, in fact, come off his boot, and the crucial free kick should have gone to Adelaide.

The Cats took the ball forward and scored a goal from Atkins ‘ free kick to give the game a run for its two points at the time, which was two points.

Friday’s statement from the AFL said:” The ball came back into play before the ARC had time to intervene on the last disposal free kick awarded to Geelong in the fourth quarter last night. The decision would have been overturned if the ARC had intervened.

” The AFL will look at its late-in-game process and the ability to potentially hold play to get the correct outcome.”

West Coast won the first game of the season at Adelaide Oval since 2022.

Jake Waterman’s scoring output – he booted 4.4 – included a 65-metre set shot in the last quarter, while Harley Reid ( 21 disposals ) and Bo Allan kicked two majors each.

The Eagles ‘ No. 1 draft pick Willem Duursma ( 20 possessions, one goal ) and second-gamer Josh Lindsay ( 19 touches ) impressed while veteran Tim Kelly ( 23 disposals ) was influential.

Mitch Georgiades and Jack Whitlock, both port attackers, both scored three goals, and Corey Durdin added two. But despite the ball-winning of acting captain Zak Butters ( 30 disposals ), Kane Farrell ( 25 ) and Jase Burgoyne ( 21 ), the Power fell short.

AAP and Greg Dundas

AFL boss highlights strong crowds in opening round debate

Marc McGowan
AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon expects next year’s opening round to look different again, but mainly because of cricket’s 150th centenary Test rather than any backlash.

Justin Longmuir and Simon Garlick, both of Fremantle, and Steven King, the new coach of Melbourne, have been criticized for claiming it is unfair that only some clubs are allowed to play a game and could be better prepared when facing a team that has not.

Dillon acknowledged that four of the six clubs that played in opening round then faced an opponent that did not win their round one match.

Collingwood and St Kilda, with exceptions, lost to Adelaide and Melbourne, respectively.

” There are a number of stakeholders we consulted, and the coaches are really important,” Dillon said.

However, if you look at the stats, there were six teams that entered the first round into round one, and it was 4-2.” We absolutely take on board the feedback from the coaches,” the coach said.

Dillon said that opening round fixturing, which typically focuses mostly on the northern markets, was a situation they were monitoring at league headquarters, but that they were thrilled with the higher crowds this season.

Our crowds are up from what they were last year, which is what I’m focusing on. We’re averaging just a tick under 40, 000 going to the games, “he said.

This weekend, we had three games at Marvel [Stadium], and they all went above forecast. We’ll have a crowd of over 50, 000 here at the’ G]between Carlton and Melbourne]. We’ve had four crowds in the 70, 000 range, and St Kilda played in front of the largest home-and-away crowd they’ve ever beaten, and they’ve been in the competition since 1897.

There will be a special one-off match between Australia and England at the MCG between March 11 and 15 next year to commemorate Test cricket’s legacy.

Dillon confirmed that meant the 2027 season would” start off differently than this year.”

Moore out for another month

Greg Dundas
Collingwood will be without skipper Darcy Moore as they enter a string of blockbuster games in April.

The Magpies confirmed on Sunday morning that the star defender would be out for” three to four weeks” due to a low-grade hamstring strain sustained in Friday’s win over the GWS Giants.

That stretch includes the Thursday-night game against the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba which lead into the Easter weekend, followed by games against Fremantle at home, arch rival Carlton, and, possibly, the Anzac Day clash with Essendon.

It’s a bitter blow for Moore, who was playing his first game of the season at Marvel Stadium on Friday.

Collingwood’s executive general manager of football Charlie Gardiner said scans taken since Friday night’s game showed Moore had an inflamed bursa behind his knee.

We are obviously let down by Darcy. Scans yesterday showed he has sustained a low-grade hamstring strain along with an inflamed bursa behind his knee, which is expected to keep him out for the next three to four weeks,” Gardiner said.

As he moves through his return-to-play schedule, Darcy will continue to collaborate closely with our medical and high-performance team.

Collingwood beat the Giants on Friday despite Moore being sidelined with what, at the time, was described as” hamstring awareness” and his predecessor as captain, Scott Pendlebury, also hobbled with an Achilles strain.

On Friday, Moore spent lengthy periods getting things going. Speaking to media after the match, Collingwood coach Craig McRae said Moore’s return to the field had been cautiously handled.

” It’s hamstring awareness,” McRae said. For those following his rehab back to play, he had this about 10 to 12 days ago – the same thing– and we were just,’ No risk, no risk, no risk’.

Can he get past the fact that we were in the game when you went? Can he take some minutes?’ Because it’s crucial to check if he can take some minutes without risk in terms of rotations.

” Now I say that, but I’m just backing in the high-performance team. That’s not my area, so we did that.

” But he’s not right. He is not entirely innocent. Has he done a hamstring? I’m unsure. I don’t think so… but we’ll obviously do all the investigations and find out”.

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