Essendon midfielder Dylan Shiel could come under scrutiny from the Match Review Officer for a “dangerous” pushing act that led to a scary collision with teammate Luamon Lual during Geelong’s win over the Bombers at GMHBA Stadium.
Shiel during a contest on the wing in the second term shoved Mark O’Connor into the pathway of a soaring Lual running back with the flight as the young Bomber was tunnelled and flipped backwards.
Lual was eventually able to get to his feet and leave the ground with a trainer in a sigh of relief as he appeared to avoid serious injury. The 20-year old returned to the game after half-time and was subbed out for tactical purposes.
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But Demons legend Garry Lyon wasn’t a fan of the action from Shiel, saying it warrants a suspension.
“That’s dangerous by Dylan Shiel. Fine, suspended, whatever you want there. I think that’s a suspension,” Lyon said on the Fox Footy broadcast.
“This is what we talk about with tunnelling and pushing players into contests, this is why we get up in arms about it.”
Lyon post-match doubled down on the “ugly incident” he “didn’t like one bit,” calling for new AFL footy boss Greg Swann to “stamp it out”.
“Greg Swann is sitting at home, enough of that, stamp it out. Give him one or two weeks,” Lyon said.
“You can’t go pushing blokes like that. The danger of that is extraordinary. Make a stand now.”
Essendon coach Brad Scott said Lual was “able to function” but “very sore” and suggested Shiel shouldn’t be banned for the friendly fire action.
“It will be an interesting one, I’m not sure if you can get suspended for hurting your own player. But we’ll see,” Scott said post-match.
The AFL sent a memo earlier this year warning clubs for potential suspension for players who push opponents in marking contests with the potential to cause injury.
Collingwood forward Brody Mihocek was cleared for a similar incident with Richmond defender Nick Vlasutin two weeks ago.
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However Richmond’s Rhyan Mansell in March copped a three-match ban for pushing Liam O’Connor into teammate Tom Lynch in an action that caused the Saint to get concussed. Meanwhile Carlton’s Ben Camporeale last month was given a four-match ban for initiating a nasty head clash between Brisbane players James Tunstill and Deven Robertson in the VFL.
Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph thinks the AFL should “crack down” on these “dangerous” pushing incidents, but highlighted the “threshold is high” as MRO Michael Christian needs to ascertain whether Shiel could reasonably foresee his action would cause injury.
Ralph expects Shiel to only be fined given Christian has never suspended a player for putting a teammate in harm’s way.
“The bizarre thing here is Michael Christian in his 12 years in the MRO has never penalised someone for pushing an opponent and hurting his own teammate,” Ralph said on Fox Footy post-match.
“It’s not to say it can’t happen, it’s just not really there in the guidelines … I think it constitutes something that should be fined.”
Respected broadcaster Gerard Whateley believes there needs to be a “total crackdown on that action” this off-season.
“If it needs to be prescribed, prescribe it. If it needs to be dictated to the players: ‘Hey, we’re going to treat this with the greatest of severity’. It will stop,” Whateley said.
“It’s a very unnatural thing we’ve seen and completely avoidable.”
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