Premiership Crows defender Najwa Allen has copped the largest suspension in AFLW history after being referred directly to the Tribunal for a bump that left her opponent concussed.
But Bombers superstar Madison Prespakis’ chances of winning a second competition best and fairest remain alive after she was able to overturn her one-match ban for a sling tackle.
Allen was facing a lengthy suspension as soon as the match review findings from Round 7 of the AFLW were released, sent directly to the tribunal for a rough conduct charge against Western Bulldogs player Kirsten McLeod.
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Allen was attempting to shepherd during the first quarter of Adelaide’s win on Friday night when her shoulder connected with the face of McLeod, who was ruled out of the game before quarter-time with concussion.
Allen’s charge was graded as high contact, severe impact and careless conduct, with the AFL recommending a suspension of at least three matches.
The Crows challenged the severe impact classification but Tribunal chairman Jeff Gleeson said the bump had potential to cause a facial injury.
“This incident (involving Allen) does not merit a sledgehammer punishment that comes with severe impact,” Crows legal representative Andrew Culshaw said.
“This was intended to be a legal shepherd. It was delivered with some force but with restrained force, and it went wrong.”
A three-game ban is the biggest suspension in AFLW history and rules Allen out for the rest of the home and away season. She is eligible to return for the first week of the finals, with the Crows set to finish inside the top four.
Fellow Crow Ebony Marinoff copped a three-match ban from a pre-season game incident in 2021, only to have her suspension overturned on appeal.
Bulldogs coach Nathan Burke post-game said his club would take a cautious approach with McLeod, who was previously sidelined for 18 months due to concussion before suffering a broken leg during season seven,
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“She’d played about five or six (games) in a row – she hadn’t really played for two and half years before that – so that’s a good run for her,” Burke told reporters.
“It’s something that we’ll watch and monitor really closely in the last three weeks … We certainly won’t be rushing her back. We’ll take it really slowly with her.”
Allen, who played in the Crows’ season six Grand Final win against Melbourne, missed three games earlier this season due to a hamstring injury. She’s been a mainstay of Adelaide’s team since being drafted with Pick 37 in the 2019 draft.
Meanwhile, Prespakis on Monday was banned for one match for a sling tackle on Tiger Sarah Hosking.
Prespakis was charged with rough conduct against Hosking, with the tackle graded a careless conduct, medium impact and high contact.
Prespakis is a perennial poller in AFLW best and fairest counts, taking out the award in 2020 as a 19-year-old before finishing fourth in season seven, and would have been ineligible to win this year’s top individual honour had her ban stood.
But the Bombers successfully pled not guilty after two members of the three-person Tribunal panel ruled in her favour.
“She (Hosking) dropped her shoulder. I just stood there as still as possible,” Prespakis said during the hearing.
“I feel like if she didn’t drive into me with force, I would have been able to hold her up.”
The 22-year-old has played a significant role in Essendon’s surge up the ladder this season, averaging a career-high 27.1 disposals.
Giant Rebecca Beeson was also handed a one-match ban for rough conduct against St Kilda’s Tyanna Smith.
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