Hawthorn captain James Sicily has been offered a one-match ban for kicking Essendon’s Andrew McGrath in the Hawks’ Round 1 loss.
The incident occurred in the first quarter and saw Sicily give away a free kick following a goal after also dumping the Bombers vice-captain.
How much contact the Hawks skipper made on McGrath is unclear from the vision.
Sicily’s incident was graded intentional conduct, medium impact and body contact. However, McGrath – speaking to SEN Breakfast on Monday morning – offered evidence that would favour Hawthorn getting the impact grading downgraded.
The rebounding defender, who enjoyed 33 possessions and 518 metres gained in the 24-point win, suggested the kick barely registered with him at the time.
“It was pretty innocuous. I think a few of us got into him (Sicily) a little bit after (Matt) Guelfi kicked the first goal on him, it was just one of those heat of the moment things,” McGrath said.
“I didn’t even really realise that he put his foot into the back of me, which sort of suggests how severe the kick was. Not very at all.
“But I guess they’re stamping that out of the game and we’ll see where that lands.
“After every incident our club doctor calls us to see if there are any medical ramifications or any soreness, my report to him was that there’s nothing, I’ve got no bruise, no nothing.
“Hopefully that stands up in the appeal if there is one.”
Should Hawthorn challenge the MRO’s grading and see the grading changed to low, Sicily would be free to take his place against Melbourne next Saturday.
Earlier, Nathan Buckley suggested the incident should be looked at outside the usual MRO guidelines, given the unusual nature.
James Sicily has been handed a one-match suspension for this incident with Andrew McGrath.
— AFL (@AFL) March 17, 2024
Full Saturday MRO findings: https://t.co/FIWEwBwozj pic.twitter.com/rfWYJnWotJ
Buckley and Kane Cornes debated the topic on SEN Breakfast.
Buckley: “If you get found guilty of kicking… if you kick someone, I think it’s at least a month. If you look at it, it is minimal. So I don’t know if there’s enough contact.”
Cornes: “There’s none, that’s not a suspendable offence.”
Buckley: “But that’s the thing. One for kicking just makes no sense to me. It makes no sense.”
Cornes: “So it’s one or it’s four?”
Buckley: “Well it’s zero or four. If you found someone guilty of kicking, they’re getting a month. It’s a dog act, it’s not something you would foster at all, it’s not a slap on the wrist if you get found guilty of kicking and that’s what has happened.”
AFL guidelines dictate that “a strike or kick requires more than negligible impact (to be a suspendable action)”.
Two other bans were also dished out by the Match Review Officer during Round 1. Bombers defender Mason Redman received a one-match ban for striking Hawk Jai Newcombe off the ball, while Gold Coast's Malcolm Rosas will also miss next week after headbutting young Crow Max Michalanney.