Hearing is underway
AFL Counsel tonight is Andrew Woods SC, while the North Melbourne player advocate is Justin Graham KC.
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What led up to the incident
Tristan Xerri was scuffling with Andrew McGrath when he touched his bloodied nose then appeared to wipe his hand on the Bomber’s face.
Xerri’s moment of madness came minutes after he had given away a 100-metre penalty for remonstrating with the umpire over a ruck infringement free kick and being slow to return the ball to Lachlan Blakiston. He was then felled after being shoved by McGrath and crashing into an oncoming Archie Roberts.
Amid the mayhem, Xerri, who suffered a blood nose from the incident, was left unguarded in North’s forward 50 as he recovered from the hit. He marked and goaled from a turnover by the Bombers and it was from the push and shove after this goal where Xerri made contact with McGrath.
Former Collingwood captain Nathan Buckley was in 2002 suspended for a game for smearing his blood on the guernsey of Geelong opponent Cameron Ling in a landmark case.
Xerri can expect a longer sanction given his contact was to McGrath’s skin.
Hello, and welcome to tonight’s AFL Tribunal hearing
Hello, and welcome to tonight’s live blog of the AFL Tribunal hearing. My name is Jon Pierik, and I will be guiding you through the evening.
Tonight’s case involves North Melbourne ruckman Tristan Xerri and his alleged smearing of blood on the face of Essendon captain Andrew McGrath in Saturday night’s clash at Marvel Stadium.
Xerri has been cited on a charge of serious misconduct, an action condemned by league boss Andrew Dillon as “something we don’t want to see” in football.
Debate has raged about Xerri’s actions and, if found guilty, how long his ban should be.x
The hearing will begin at 5pm.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
