Afternoon all, some big news coming out of the AFL today ahead of the Swans clash against the Cats on Friday night.
Cats midfield maestro Patrick Dangerfield has accepted the one week suspension for rough conduct, offered by the MRP.
It was the kind of tackle that 5, 10 or even 15 years ago would be applauded as a tough, but good tackle, while the stricken player would have been considered unfortunate to cop the knock.
But in these days and times, where the head is sacrosanct and the real impact of concussions and head knocks are still unknown, the AFL and the MRP have towed a firm and consistent line - don't touch the head.
"After seeking independent advice, the club has decided to accept the penalty handed down to Pat by the Match Review Panel," Geelong's general manager of football, Steve Hocking, said in a statement released by the Cats.
"The club reviewed all possibilities around the case in coming to this decision. We respect the fact that the Match Review Panel has a challenging and difficult role and has to operate under high scrutiny.
"While there has been a lot of debate around Pat's eligibility for the Brownlow Medal, Pat and the club have at all times remained focussed on what is best for the team as we head towards to last part of the season."
While there's no allegations of Dangerfield being a dirty player, he certainly hasn't given his glittering 196 game career, even negligent and accidental acts on the field are open to the gamut of MRP and AFL punishment.
How will that affect the Cats this weekend? Well, the last two times the Swans and Cats have played, especially last year at Skilled, Dangerfield was their best player.
He collected 19 possessions in one of the most dominant quarters of modern football, even though his disposal at times was complete crap.
It's going to be hard for the Cats to adjust, and there'll be a bit of lawn chair shuffling before the game, moving the pawns around to see what they can achieve.
They still rely heavily on Selwood, and they've found success without Dangerfield, so time will tell what his real impact is, and whether or not it will be felt.
Despite that, the Swans have their own injury concerns that are far more pressing than Geelong's. Kennedy, Sinclair, Naismith and Rohan didn't train today and it's reasonable to assume that Sinclair is the only one who'll be available from that group.
McEvoy receive big wraps in the media for his performance last Friday night, with Gary Lyon from SEN giving him 3 votes in their best on ground award, even though they clearly had better players on the night.
It's pretty easy to look like a super star, legend of the game, when you don't have an opponent. Just look at JJ from the Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon, who Essendon bizarrely left unchecked.
He ran rampant, kicked four goals and was back to his bruise free best, while the Bombers ceded four of the last 5 goals of the match to lose in a pretty confusing manner.
Franklin was lucky enough to avoid sanction for his slap on Hodge, while Luke wasn't as lucky, slapped with a one week ban by the MRP.
The Hawks haven't taken it lying down, one would wished they would, and have taken the matter to the tribunal. Some confusing commentary being the worst he could receive is a fine instead of suspension - what?
The 33-year-old risks only a $2500 fine rather than an extra week on the sidelines.
Someone needs to explain this to me.
Anyway, In this weeks episode, I'm joined by Steven Park from the Facebook group _Road 2 Glory, and four time leading goal kicker for the Demons, retired super star and public icon, Russell Robertson.
It's a great interview to kick the episode off and we talk about life in football, before and after, as well as some of his favourite memories.
It's another great episode, even though it clocks in at almost two hours, it's well worth a listen and it's another fantastic insight into the life of a footballer, the Melbourne football club, and life afterwards.
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