West Coast coach Adam Simpson is expecting a “positive result” from the Match Review Officer (MRO) after star ruckman Nic Naitanui was reported for rough conduct in the Eagles’ 55-point win over Essendon last night.
Naitanui shoved Bombers midfielder Zach Merrett into the fence after Merrett pulled his hair in the third quarter.
Merrett was also reported for misconduct as a result.
When asked if Naitanui went a bit overboard with his aggressiveness, Simpson said he didn’t have a problem with it.
“He’s always aggressive,” Simpson told SEN WA.
“If your hair got pulled like that, you might do the same thing.”
Simpson is anticipating the MRO’s verdict on the incident later today, but believes Naitanui isn’t in any danger of getting suspended.
“We think he’ll be alright,” he said.
“I think because the umpires gave the report to both players, they had to wait until today (to give a verdict).
“They’ve been pretty good recently at getting the information out as quick as possible so we can prepare.
“I’d anticipate that we’ll get a positive result.”
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