Richmond forward Rhyan Mansell has been found guilty of rough conduct and will serve his three-game ban.
The AFL Tribunal deliberated for nearly half an hour after a 90-minute hearing on Tuesday night and rejected the Tigers’ arguments.
Mansell’s hearing was widely seen as a test case after the AFL issued a memo last month, warning players against pushing opponents into marking contests.
The Richmond forward was charged after he pushed St Kilda defender Liam O’Connell into the path of Tigers key forward Tom Lynch and St Kilda’s Anthony Caminiti.
O’Connell was concussed and match review officer Michael Christian graded Mansell’s incident as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact.
“We find that this was rough conduct,” Tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson KC said, adding Mansell had breached his duty of care as a player.
“The force of the push is a significant factor here — it went well beyond what a reasonable player would consider prudent in the circumstances, particularly the circumstances that the push was in the direction of the path of the ball.”
Mansell argued he had pushed O’Connell to gain separation in a marking contest.
The Tigers also argued the Tribunal had not charged West Coast player Reuben Ginbey for a pre-season incident where he pushed Richmond youngster Sam Lalor into a marking contest, leaving him with a fractured jaw and concussion.
The Ginbey-Lalor incident was among a string of pre-season incidents that prompted last month’s AFL memo.
AAP
