Hawks ‘d***heads’, star ‘shemozzle’ slammed; key meeting to decide Pie’s record game — AFL Daily

Hawthorn’s suspended star duo and the drawn-out Zak Butters umpire sledge saga have come under fire.

Plus Craig McRae has shed light on plans for Scott Pendlebury’s looming record game. MORE IN AFL DAILY.

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FLY TO MEET WITH PENDLES OVED RECORD GAME PLANS

Collingwood coach Craig McRae says he’s set to catch up with Scott Pendlebury this week to discuss when the champion will play in the AFL’s record breaking game.

Pendlebury is currently three matches shy of surpassing Brent Harvey’s all-time VFL/AFL games record of 432.

It means, if Pendlebury were to play in Collingwood’s next three games, he’d break the record against Geelong at the MCG in Round 9.

But the Pies have a five-day turnaround from Anzac Day into next Thursday night’s meeting with Hawthorn.

It could create a scenario where 38-year old will be rested at some point in the coming weeks and instead play in his marquee milestone against Sydney at the SCG in Round 10, or against West Coast at the MCG in Round 11.

“I’m actually having a catch up with ‘Pendles’ this week. Without forecasting, because I’m not good at forecasting. We’ll just deal with what’s now and have a good chat,” McRae said on Fox Footy’s AFL 360.

“We’ve been pretty aligned in all our planning the past.

“We caught up prior to Round 1 and I think this will be a good time to catch up and see what the next patch looks like.”

McRae said it was important to honour Pendlebury but noted the “week to week matters” for his 3-3 side, currently sitting outside the top 10.

“We want what’s best for the club,” the Magpies boss added.

“Then obviously this guy is arguably one of the best players of all time, particularly for our footy club, so we want to make sure we get that right too.”

HAWKS ‘D****HEADS’ TORN TO SHREDS

James Sicily and Dylan Moore have been ripped as a “d***heads” after the star Hawthorn copped suspensions.

Both players were given one-match bans for strikes off the ball, which the AFL said it’d crack down on ahead of the season.

It means they’ll miss Saturday’s crucial clash with Gold Coast in Launceston to leave two key voids in Sam Mitchell’s side.

But there’s “absolutely zero sympathy” from Demons great Garry Lyon.

“These were the d***heads of the week. I’m sorry to say and use such a fruity term,” Lyon said on Fox Footy’s AFL 360.

“But I have absolutely zero sympathy for Dylan Moore and James Sicily. Two very experienced men who know that our game is covered by 18 to 20 cameras.

“You’re not getting away with anything. And Greg Swann (warned you).

“There was a chat halfway the day that Hawthorn was thinking of appealing it. In some ways, I wish they had’ve. Because then you could’ve turned around to them and said: ‘Here’s another week for your stupidity and wasting our time’.

“I’m not laughing at the fact that Hawthorn is going to without their captain and former vice-captain. But they get what they deserve.”

Gerard Whateley added: “You’d be ropeable, wouldn’t you? You’d be just ropeable.”

BUTTERS CASE A ‘SHEMOZZLE’

The Zak Butters umpire sledge saga has been described as a “shemozzle” after it finally reached its conclusion on Monday night.

The Port Adelaide star was successful at the Appeal Board as Butters was cleared over an error in law in relation to him saying to umpire Nick Foot: “How much are they paying you?”

Port lawyers successfully exploited a loophole after jury member Jason Johnson left last week’s initial Tribunal deliberations for around 80 seconds and finished the hearing in his car before attending a real estate inspection.

Monday night’s case included the Power’s legal representative, Paul Ehrlich, at times being disrupted by his dogs barking over the top of him.

Meanwhile, the final verdict doesn’t technically clear Butters from making the sledge to Foot — it simply clears the star midfielder of the charge.

“I think the technical term for all of this is shemozzle — from beginning to end,” Fox Footy AFL 360 co-host Gerard Whateley said.

“It’s the only possible outcome to tonight’s hearing.

“The game failed at every step here. In a way, the appeal board has saved a bit of face for everybody

“It has done no favours to player or umpire in the case. There really is an open verdict, there’s not a clearing in this.

“Its a legal technicality and it’s all voided. The only winners have been the lawyers.

Melbourne great Garry Lyon added: “In 10, 20, 30, 50 years’ time, he will not have a guilty (charge) against his name for accusing an umpire of effectively cheating.

“To him, that’s real important.”

AFL CONCEDES ARC ERROR AS CONSISTENCY QUESTIONS RAISED

The AFL has conceded its ARC doctor was wrong to send off Tom Edwards despite Essendon’s doctor clearing the forward of concussion.

And an AFL great says he’s be “filthy” if he were in the Bombers camp.

Edwards was ruled out by the AFL’s ARC doctor in the dying minutes of Essendon’s narrow loss to Gold Coast, despite being cleared to keep playing by the Bombers doctor minutes earlier on the interchange.

That came after a disagreement between the two doctors.

“I would classify it as a heated disagreement (between the two doctors),” Seven’s Tom Morris said on Agenda Setters.

“It’s not unusual for two doctors to disagree on something clinical like this. But this was noticed by people around them and there’s no doubt that they were on very different sides of the coin.

“(The AFL) are saying that Essendon was right and the AFL ARC doctor, on this occasion, was wrong, and they will continue to review their processes.”

The new rule for the AFL’s concussion spotters to overrule club doctors and force players off the ground has raised questions of inconsistency.

In Sunday’s clash between Melbourne and Brisbane, Demon Harrison Petty was ruled out of the game after suffering delayed concussion symptoms.

The AFL ARC didn’t intervene in that situation, despite removing Lion Noah Answerth in the same game.

Hawks champion Jordan Lewis called the Edwards situation “bizarre,” suggesting the AFL ARC doctor should only be involved in emergencies.

“I think the ARC is there for a reason. It’s probably to catch the ones that haven’t been seen by the bench,” Lewis argued on Fox Footy’s On the Couch.

“When the doctor has got the player off and did the tests face-to-face and conversed with the player. For the ARC to come over the top and overrule that one, I’d be filthy if I was the Essendon doctors.”

Geelong legend Tom Hawkins took issue with the “length of time” it took to rule out Edwards.

“He came off and got checked, we’ve got to trust the doctor, they’re there for a reason,” Hawkins said on the program.

“They know the players intimately, they know how he behaves and know his behaviour.

“To bring him back off after a period of time. We’ve got this technology, let’s implement it straight away, bring the player off to be checked.

“Do it all at the same time, as opposed to waiting so long to check and/or rule him out.”

AFL CLOSING IN ON OCTOBER GF FOR 2027

An October grand final? It’s looming for 2027.

Seven’s Xander McGuire reports the AFL is in the “latter stages” of confirming an October grand final for next season.

The 2027 fixture is expected to be moved back at least one week due to the MCG hosting the 150th Anniversary Cricket Test between Australia and England from March 11 to 15.

It means that, along with other potential changes to next year’s fixture including a new-look Opening Round, the grand final will be pushed back a week.

“The league’s preferred route, at this stage, to deal with the unavailability of the MCG, is to move the season back by at least one week,” McGuire said.

“The fixture will be finalised in the next couple of weeks, with meetings with key stakeholders to come.”

The last time the AFL Grand Final was played in October was in 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.