Leongatha player KO’d in off-the-ball incident
A great contest between two of the likely contenders for honours in the Gippsland League this season, Warragul and Leongatha, which finished in a thrilling draw, has been marred by an off-the-ball incident during the third quarter.
A GREAT contest between two of the likely contenders for honours in the Gippsland League this season, Warragul and Leongatha, which finished in a thrilling draw, has been marred by an off-the-ball incident during the third quarter.
The incident, clearly captured by the official video of the game, documents Warragul player, Jordan Stewart, grabbing Leongatha’s Hayden Lindsay by the back of his jumper and slinging him to the ground, while two metres away, Leongatha defender Cade Maskell marks the in-coming ball.
As well as the vision, TRFM commentators also made pointed reference to the incident.
“Stewart just dumps off the ball…" they said.
“The Leongatha player, who for want of a better description, has been sling-tackled to the ground, nowhere near the ball I must say, by Jordan Stewart, has not moved too much, still on the ground, being helped up by trainers at the moment.”
He went on to provide the context, saying he thought the Leongatha player may have been annoying Stewart ahead of the contest, but when the ball was kicked forward by Warragul player Nettle, Stewart has slung Lindsay to the ground.
“He knew Leongatha was going to take the mark, so he thought he might make them pay, and pay they did.”
This series of photographs shows Leongatha player Hayden Lindsay being sling-tackle to the ground by Warragul’s Jordan Stewart in an incident likely to attract the attention of the Gippsland League’s match review officer.
The incident happened at about the 16 minute-mark in the third quarter, just as Leongatha was fighting back from a 24-point deficit, although the video records it at the 15.32-minute mark. Lindsay played no further part in the game.
He is likely to miss several weeks as a result of severe concussion.
Leongatha club officials declined to make comment on the incident, preferring to leave it to the league’s match review officer, Peter Carey.
However, for an incident that is graded as “Intentional”, “High Impact” and “High Contact”, Stewart could be looking at four weeks on the sidelines, reduced to three for an early guilty plea.
A grading of "Careless", "High" and "High" could result in a three-week penalty reduced to two for a guilty plea. There was no report of the incident by the on-field umpires.
The video of the game clearly captures the incident in which Leongatha player Hayden Lindsay is sling-tackled by Warragul’s Jordan Stewart.
