‘You serve the penalty’: Star set for multi-week ban as three Lions in MRO’s sights

Brisbane’s triple All-Australian defender Harris Andrews is one of three Lions set to have incidents scrutinised by the Match Review Officer tomorrow.

Co-captain Andrews is facing “a two-match holiday at least” after an incident in the third quarter that concussed a rival, while teammates Zac Bailey and Darcy Gardiner are also considered likely to be sanctioned for separate acts.

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After a marking contest on the wing, Andrews attempted to put a block on Bulldogs opponent Artie Jones as a way to prevent him from gaining possession.

However, he collected Jones high with a hit that was hard enough to concuss the young Dogs forward, who was ruled out later in the third term.

“He got an errant backhander … he (Andrews) was aware that he (Jones) was there; I think that’s one of the things that you’ve got to consider,” Garry Lyon said as multiple replay angles were shown.

“If you’re going to throw that (elbow) back like that, you run the risk of going through the matrix, which I’m certain it will.”

“Harris Andrews put a block on – now, I’m sure it’s not intentional, but Harris looked around, identified where Artie was, and thrown his arm back to put a block on.

“But he is in some trouble, I would have thought, (since) Artie Jones went out of the game with a concussion, and it is high contact.

“So, I think he’s got a few worries there.”

Given Jones was knocked out, Andrew is likely facing multiple weeks on the sidelines, with upcoming Brisbane matchups against Sydney and St Kilda.

Post-match, on Fox Footy’s Super Saturday Live, Jay Clark, David King and Jack Riewoldt offered their views on the contentious incident.

“This is a two-match holiday at least, for mine,” Clark said.

“He comes back with that swinging left arm … clearly makes contact with his elbow … hits (Jones’) cheekbone. That ended his (Jones’) night. He is concussed.

“The way the MRO has treated these is (that) concussion is severe impact, so that’s a three-match holiday. I think it’ll be careless and severe.

“With the new MRO rules you can downgrade it by one or two… but I think that’s at least two matches for Harris Andrews. That is a careless act … you owe the opposition a duty of care, and in that instance, he didn’t show it.”

King said: “Not for one minute do I think he intended any of this. When he’s thrown the arm back, I think he’s looking to body check him, really. That’s the mechanism.

“It’s gone horribly wrong, it’s unfortunate … for me, it’s almost only a one-week slapper. I hate concussion more than anyone, but I don’t think he had any idea he was going to do this.”

Riewoldt added: “It’s quite simple for me. He wasn’t making a play at the ball, and he was making a play on the player. If you throw a swinging arm in a contest like that, you serve the penalty.”

The Lions’ co-captain’s fate will be revealed by the Match Review Officer on Sunday night – as will Bailey and Gardiner’s.

Bailey, taking umbrage to being tackled over the boundary line, is set to be cited for an intentional elbow to the head of Bulldogs debutant Michael Sellwood.

“This could be a one-match suspension,” Clark said.

“This would be an intentional act. He’s over the boundary line, swings with that elbow … that’s an intentional elbow to Michael Sellwood’s head.”

A grading of intentional conduct with low impact would result in a one-match ban, while a medium impact grading would see Bailey suspended for two games.

Gardiner, lastly, could be cited for a forearm to the head of Aaron Naughton, which resulted in a decisive 50-metre penalty late in proceedings.

“I think he might be okay – you can see he sort of gets him high with a forearm, elbow to the head,” Clark said.

“It doesn’t look amazing, does it. So, that’ll definitely be looked at.”