‘Don’t see any dirtiness’: AFLW star facing mega ban for ‘monster tackle’ that split experts

Bulldog Britney Gutknecht’s season is all but over as she faces the biggest ban in AFLW history for her tackle that left Swan Paige Sheppard concussed on Saturday.

With just two games to play, and the Dogs no chance of finals after a horror 2023 campaign, Gutknecht has been sent straight to the Tribunal and faces three-plus weeks on the sidelines.

Sheppard had received the ball at halfback and didn’t see Gutknecht approach from behind before she was drilled into the Whitten Oval turf.

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At the time, two-time AFLW All Australian, and Fox Footy commentator, Ruby Schleicher praised the hit as a “monster tackle”.

“That is going to hurt in the morning,” she said.

“You could see (Gutknecht) coming. Sheppard just unaware of Gutknecht sneaking up on her.

“That is just a huge tackle.”

Sheppard was left lying on the turf before being assisted from the ground and taken straight into the rooms where she later failed her HIA.

But Schleicher was adamant it was a “fair tackle” by the determined Bulldog.

“I don’t see any dirtiness in that,” she said.

“It was pretty heavy on her head, wasn’t it? I look at that – I still see a fair tackle. There’s no doubt the Match Review will look at it, because they have to I guess. The duty of care for the player.

“She’s almost landed on her shoulders.”

Fellow Fox Footy commentator Meghan McDonald agreed with Schleicher’s assessment of the hit.

“It’s just a matter of being taken totally unawares!” she said.

“She didn’t see her coming and wasn’t braced for it.

“Technique wise, I don’t know what more (Gutknecht could have done) … she went low and it was in the momentum and the follow through and she’s hit her head on the ground.

“It’s certainly a single motion … it’s the pace at which she was running.”

But the Match Review didn’t agree and graded Gutknecht’s actions as careless, severe impact and high contact – and she’s now facing the biggest ban in AFLW history.

It’s the second straight week an AFLW player has been hit with a massive ban after premiership Crow defender Najwa Allen copped a three-week suspension last week for her bump.

Should Gutknecht fail to overturn her hefty ban, it will be the second straight year her season has ended abruptly after a sickening leg break in September 2022.

The ban caps off a horror campaign for the Bulldogs who sit without a win in 2023 – their worst performance since their one-win inaugural AFLW season.