Essendon have confirmed they will appeal the one-match ban handed down to captain Zach Merrett for a dangerous tackle on Melbourne’s Tom Sparrow in the club’s Gather Round clash with Melbourne.
The star midfielder initially grabbed Sparrow around the neck as he grappled with him before flinging him to the turf head-first, which the match review officer Michael Christian assessed as careless conduct, medium impact and high contact.The incident is similar to Hawthorn midfielder Will Day’s two-game ban for a dangerous tackle on Geelong’s Brad Close in round four, which was upheld at the tribunal after being deemed an “inherently dangerous action”.
The AFL’s legal representative Sam Bird explained the guidelines are clear that consideration of potential injury is now front centre, rather than looking solely at any injury a player may have sustained as a result of the incident.