2 months ago
North Melbourne prima Tristan Xerri would person risked a heftier AFL prohibition had he not shown remorse for wiping humor connected nan look of Essendon skipper Andrew McGrath.
Xerri will miss North’s adjacent 3 games aft he pleaded blameworthy to his superior misconduct charge.
The only rumor astatine Monday’s tribunal proceeding was nan severity of nan suspension, pinch nan AFL wanting 3 games and North arguing for two.
In handing down nan penalty, tribunal president Jeff Gleeson KC said it was “disgraceful behaviour” and noted Xerri’s manus was adjacent to McGrath’s unfastened mouth.
“The ‘look’ of nan enactment is rather shocking,” Gleeson said. But he besides noted Xerri made “no effort whatsoever” to minimise what happened and called nan grounds “impressive”.
The tribunal said location was “some significance” to Xerri admitting successful grounds that location had been humor connected his hand, fixed that was not clear successful nan video footage.
“If not for Mr Xerri’s early plea and his impressive, candid and remorseful evidence, we whitethorn person considered a punishment of much than 3 weeks arsenic appropriate,” Gleeson said.
Xerri will miss nan Good Friday crippled against Carlton, past matches against Brisbane and Richmond. He was referred straight to nan tribunal and said successful grounds that nan bizarre incident was a “brain fade”.
As expected, Xerri threw himself astatine nan mercy of nan tribunal. The incident during Saturday night’s crippled overshadowed North’s 12-point triumph complete nan Bombers.
Monday’s proceeding was held a time earlier than normal.
The incident happened aft nan North Melbourne large man had complained to an umpire astir a humor chemoreceptor earlier kicking a extremity and clashing physically pinch McGrath.
Xerri past touched his bloody chemoreceptor and wiped his manus connected McGrath’s face.
The ruckman called McGrath to apologise, saying successful grounds that it was a bully conversation, and added he was “completely owning” nan mistake.
Xerri said he reacted aft being sledged by Essendon opponents. He had conscionable kicked nan extremity from a free kick.
“I was getting called a ‘weak c-word’, a ‘effing, flopping c-word’,” he said. “It’s not correct what I did. I’m sorry and sincerely apologise for that.
“It was conscionable a lapse successful judgment. There’s nary excuses, mate. It’s a mediocre look. I had a encephalon fade. I was defending myself and successful that infinitesimal I had a encephalon fade. I should person done better.”
The incident predictably attracted wide condemnation up of nan hearing, pinch AFL main executive Andrew Dillon connected Sunday saying it was “something that we don’t want to see”.
North tried to tie comparisons pinch erstwhile cases, wherever Nathan Buckley and Jeremy Howe received one-game bans for wiping humor connected opponents’ uniforms.
But Gleeson said those incidents were “quite importantly little serious”.
