Showdowns are always spicy, but Saturday night’s clash between Port Adelaide and Adelaide went to a whole new level.
In wild scenes at Adelaide Oval, Dan Houston laid out Rankine with a monster bump in the third term, leading to a wild fracas between both teams, with umpire Ray Chamberlain in the thick of trying to break it up.
“Look out! Bang! Houston with a big bump on Rankine! They are about to throw down in the Showdown!,” Fox Footy caller Adam Papalia said.
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Houston to get 8 weeks for Rankine bump? | 01:16
Rankine was knocked out cold for some time and in the hands of trainers in worrying scenes, eventually coming conscious and putting a thumbs up while stretchered off the ground.
Meanwhile Houston faces a nervous wait from the Match Review Officer some two weeks out from a finals campaign and the potential that his season is over — and career at Port Adelaide amid reports he’s set to request a trade back to Victoria at season’s end.
“He elected to bump and has KO’d him. I’m not sure there’s direct contact with the head. But ultimately he’s KO’d him,” Brownlow medallist Gerard Healy said.
Among the scuffles that broke out saw Matt Crouch wrestling with Travis Boak and raising an elbow to potentially put the Crows midfielder under MRO scrutiny too.
You sense the MRO report might have a few charges, with Houston’s likely to be the heaviest.
Rachele delivers all-time sledge to Port | 00:29
The crowd was left stunned for the rest of the quarter given the brutality of the hit, while the payers continued to go at throughout the rest of the testy period and into the fourth term.
Ricciuto added: “This is a gigantic story. If that goes there wrong way for Houston, he might not be playing again this season.”
Former Hawthorn sharpshooter Ben Dixon said of a potential Houston suspension: “That’s a big number, he’s expected to get a big number off that.”
MORE TO COME.
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