Essendon defender Mason Redman could find himself in hot water with the Match Review Officer following an incident that “doesn’t look good” according to St Kilda great Leigh Montagna.
In the second quarter of the Bombers’ season-opening clash with the Hawks at the MCG, Redman came into close contact with Hawthorn midfielder Jai Newcombe in the second quarter.
Redman appeared to land a double-handed strike on Newcombe, which led to a 50-metre penalty paid against Redman after a free kick had already been given away.
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Newcombe was unaffected by Redman’s hit, playing out the remainder of the game.
However, the incident might be compared with George Hewett’s strike on Brisbane star Lachie Neale last Friday, which resulted in a fine after it was graded careless by Michael Christian.
Hewett’s fist appeared to graze off Neale’s shoulder before landing on his jaw, whereas Redman’s hit appeared more direct as it made contact with Newcombe’s chin area.
“It doesn’t look good does it,” Montagna said on Fox Footy.
“The question is whether his first contact was to the chest of Newcombe and it slid up, or if it was directly to the face.
“I find these hard to assess… I don’t really know if it’s a one-week suspension or not.
“It’s a push to the face, does that count as a strike?”
Ex-Hawk Ben Dixon, meanwhile, said it looked to him like Redman “made contact” with the face.
“In terms of what we’re trying to eradicate out of the game, the head-high contact in a collision, that doesn’t need to be seen in the game,” Dixon said.
“It didn’t look like it hit his chest, to me that looks like he made contact with his face.”
The mini tussle between the players was just one facet of a tense meeting between rivals to begin 2024, following an early Matt Guelfi goal where Hawthorn captain James Sicily came face-to-face with numerous Bombers in a scuffle.
Any MRO-worthy incident from Saturday’s contests will be assessed on Sunday, with any subsequent verdicts released the same day.
With Jordan Ridley already sidelined and fellow key backman Jayden Laverde overlooked at selection on Thursday, emerging Essendon key defender Zach Reid (hamstring awareness) went down and was subbed out of the game at half-time.
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