Western Bulldogs forward Sam Darcy and defender Taylor Duryea are expected to face Match Review Officer scrutiny after a pair of questionable Friday night incidents.
In the first quarter of the Magpies’ battle with the Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium, an oncoming Darcy initiated heavy contact with Collingwood defender Brayden Maynard, clattering into the backwards-moving Magpie in a marking-contest collision.
The hefty contact — made largely to the back of Maynard’s head — resulted in a 50-metre penalty awarded to the Collingwood defender, who kicked truly before coming from the ground and being escorted to the rooms.
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Collingwood players immediately remonstrated with Darcy.
After undergoing and passing a concussion test, Maynard emerged from the rooms and spent a few minutes on the bench before returning to the field of play.
Bulldogs marking target Darcy, meanwhile, is anticipated to receive an MRO sanction for the act.
“I think he’ll be suspended for two weeks, I think it fits really comfortably – his hit on Brayden Maynard – in that two week region,” Herald Sun journalist Jon Ralph said during Fox Footy’s half time coverage.
“He turns his body, he clearly makes shoulder contact to the head, he takes his eyes off the football, it is less than Peter Wright who concussed Harry Cunningham which was a four-week ban, but it’s more than Toby Greene on Jordan Boyd which was only a week.
“Careless, high impact, high force is two weeks. Severe impact would have been if Maynard did not pass the SCAT test, it’s only two weeks if he gets underneath that threshold. I don’t think it’ll be more than two weeks.”
“It’s the fine line between playing with a presence… he’s tipped over the wrong side there and he’ll pay the price for it,” Melbourne champion Garry Lyon replied.
“That’s the part there that he’ll probably get himself in trouble for — when he ducked his shoulder, he probably could’ve thrown in his arm for a spoil,” Seven’s Luke Hodge said in commentary immediately following the incident.
“Sam Darcy is the other big story of this first quarter,” Melbourne great Garry Lyon said on Fox Footy at quarter-time. “That’ll be looked at, he gave the 50-metre penalty away.”
Duryea, meantime, was reported on the spot after hitting Nick Daicos behind play.
“There wasn’t a lot of intent in it,” Seven’s Brian Taylor said. “I reckon that would be at the minor end of any penalty.”
“It felt like a bit of a shrug, but the umpire was right there,” Matthew Richardson said.
“The AFL doesn’t like it when players throw their arms or elbows back, we certainly see Nick Daicos hit high here and maybe you could say he makes the most of it,” Ralph said at half time.
“I think it’s low impact, only careless, so I think it fits really comfortably as a fine.”
Luke Beveridge’s Dogs were already shorthanded entering Friday night’s bout, missing forwards Aaron Naughton (knee) and Cody Weightman (elbow).
If Darcy is indeed resigned to a stint on the sidelines, Rory Lobb — who is playing as a second ruck behind Tim English — is likely to shift into a majority forward-50 role.
MRO Michael Christian will release any Friday night findings on Saturday.
Source Agencies
