AFL
3 hours ago
Bad blood: Xerri in hot water after heated exchange
By SEN
Tristan Xerri is facing the possibility of a suspension from the MRO after smearing his blood on Andrew McGrath.
During the second quarter of North Melbourne’s 12-point win over Essendon, the ruckman gave away a free kick for holding the man, which was then turned into a 50-metre penalty.
Following that, McGrath and Archie Roberts made their feelings known towards the reigning Syd Barker Medallist, with the Essendon captain bumping the 27-year-old into Roberts, prompting Xerri to fall over.
Despite the Bombers getting the ball in their forward 50 off the back of the penalty, the ball quickly landed back in the hands of the 202cm ruckman, who kicked a goal from outside the goal square.
That saw McGrath reignite his tussle with the ruckman, with Xerri proceeding to channel his inner Nathan Buckley and smear the blood from his nose on the Essendon captain’s cheek.
Watching the footage live, SEN’s Garry Lyon was left unimpressed by the actions of Xerri.
“I hope I didn’t see what I thought I saw,” he said on Fox Footy.
The MRO is expected to hand down its findings from the match within the next 24 hours.
