North Melbourne will be without star Brent Harvey for the club’s elimination final in three weeks after the AFL tribunal handed the midfielder a three-week suspension for attacking the throat of Western Bulldog Liam Picken.
Harvey’s misconduct case was sent straight to the tribunal after a non-broadcast camera caught the veteran slam Western Bulldogs opponent Liam Picken to the ground before landing a forearm to the tagger’s throat.
The tribunal needed nine minutes of deliberation to agree on a three-week penalty after the 382-game veteran’s defence team argued Picken faced no risk of injury from the incident and that the three weeks were significant considering the low impact and early guilty plea.
“I don’t think I had any other option,” Harvery testified
“He made contact with me and grabbed me with both hands. I tried to get up and get some leverage to push up … he was pulling down with force,” he continued, describing the scuffle as a “tug of war”.
Harvey will miss vital clashes against Adelaide and Melbourne, and what will likely be just the club’s second finals campaign of the past six seasons.
North have already decided not to appeal the decision.
“We’ve got a range of options … we’ll assess all that in the morning,” football director Geoff Walsh said after the hearing.
Fremantle’s rapidly improving form took a dive on Tuesday night when gun midfielder Nat Fyfe lost a bid to a have a two-week suspension overturned.
The Dockers looked to be nearing their best after a convincing 19-point win over reigning premiers Hawthorn last Sunday, however the tribunal stood by the match review panel’s decision to suspend Fyfe for a reckless off-the-ball strike to Jordan Lewis.
The Docker legal defence pleaded guilty to striking, but argued Fyfe’s action was reckless and not intentional.
“I attempted an arm bar manoeuvre … to stop him getting out goal side,” Fyfe told the jury. “I intended to stop his run and give me a chance to get goal side of him.”
“It wasn’t a strike, it was an arm bar.”
The Fyfe outcome represented a double blow for Fremantle, which also announced Tuesday that Michael Barlow would miss two matches after the midfielder sustained a broken thumb over the weekend.
Fremantle will be hoping to wrap up a top four spot when they take on Brisbane and Port Adelaide in the club’s final two home and away games of the season.
Photo: Michael Dodge/Getty Images
