JOHNSON CITED BUT CLEARED TO PLAY, ROOKE AND MACKIE CLEARED BY AFL MATCH REVIEW PANEL
Ben Jensen 31 March 2009

By Ben Jensen STEVE JOHNSON has been cited by the AFL Match Review Panel for striking Hawthorn's Luke Hodge in Friday night's Grand Final rematch at the MCG, but is clear to play against Richmond this Saturday after the MRP's assessment of the charge. Johnson's video report brought the total reports from the match to five. Max Rooke and Andrew Mackie, reported for rough conduct and striking on the night, had their reports dropped, as did Luke Hodge of the Hawks. Hawthorn ruckman Simon Taylor, however, was not as lucky and accepted a two-match suspension with an early plea.

While clear to play this week, Johnson has challenged the MRP's assessment, which although only a reprimand, would leave him with 45 activation points carrying over and an almost certain suspension next time around. Should the challenge fail, Johnson will be left with 60 activation points, hence almost nothing to lose contesting the charge.

AFL MATCH REVIEW PANEL'S ASSESSMENTS

CHARGED

Steve Johnson, Geelong Cats, has been charged with a Level Two attempting to strike offence against Luke Hodge, Hawthorn, during the second quarter of the Round One match between the Geelong Cats and Hawthorn, played at the MCG on Friday March 27, 2009.

In summary, he can accept a reprimand and 45 points towards his future record with an early plea, due to an existing five-year good record.

The incident was assessed as intentional conduct (three points), low impact (one point) and body contact (one point). This is a total of five activation points, resulting in a classification of a Level Two offence, drawing 80 demerit points and a reprimand. He has a five-year good record, which reduces the penalty by 25 per cent to 60 demerit points. An early plea reduces the penalty by 25 per cent to 45 points and a reprimand.

Simon Taylor, Hawthorn, has been charged with a Level Three misconduct (kneeing) offence against Joel Selwood, Geelong Cats, during the first quarter of the Round One match between Hawthorn and the Geelong Cats, played at the MCG on Friday March 27, 2009.

In summary, he can accept a two-match sanction with an early plea.

The incident was assessed as intentional conduct (three points), low impact (one point) and high contact (two points). This is a total of six activation points, resulting in a classification of a Level Three offence, drawing 325 demerit points and a three-match sanction. He has no existing good or bad record. An early plea reduces the penalty by 25 per cent to 243.75 points and a two-match sanction.

CLEARED

The match day report laid against the Geelong Cats’ Max Rooke for engaging in rough conduct against Hawthorn’s Sam Mitchell during Friday’s match was assessed. It was the view of the panel that Rooke bumped Mitchell to the right shoulder and there was no high contact made. The amount of force used was not excessive. A free kick was the appropriate penalty for the action, as was paid at the time. No further action was taken.

The match day report laid against Hawthorn’s Luke Hodge for striking the Geelong Cats’ Tom Lonergan during Friday’s match was assessed. It was the view of the panel that Hodge’s action was a legitimate attempt to spoil. Hodge had his eyes on the ball at all times through the spoiling action. No further action was required.

The match day report laid against the Geelong Cats’ Andrew Mackie for striking Hawthorn’s Brent Renouf during Friday’s match was assessed. It was the view of the panel that the force of the impact was below that required to constitute a reportable offence. No further action was taken.