Adelaide’s Rory Laird will not participate in the highly anticipated match against Collingwood after appeals against his one-match suspension were unsuccessful. The ban stemmed from an incident involving West Coast’s Jamie Cripps, where Laird made contact with Cripps during a third-quarter play. As Cripps attempted to kick the ball, Laird’s tackle was deemed rough, leading to his suspension.
During the tribunal hearing, Laird’s defence argued that he did not intend to bump Cripps but aimed to push him off the ball. However, the AFL’s legal representative contended that Laird executed a bumping motion without contesting the ball and with his right arm tucked, leading the tribunal to uphold the penalty.
Adelaide’s upcoming encounter against Collingwood will occur without Laird, placing pressure on the team as they face a top contender. Meanwhile, West Coast’s Liam Duggan also received a two-match suspension for a high contact incident involving Riley Thilthorpe. In that case, Duggan struck Thilthorpe on the head with his shoulder after he had gained possession of the ball. Although Thilthorpe managed to offload the ball, he later left the field due to injury concerns.
Duggan’s actions were classified as careless conduct with high impact, resulting in his acceptance of the suspension. His team, West Coast, will face the Bulldogs in their next match as they navigate through these injury and suspension challenges.
In the end, despite the controversial decisions surrounding player conduct, Adelaide emerged victorious in their last match, defeating West Coast 13.9 (87) to 12.6 (78).