Richmond youngster Jonty Faull has been handed a one-match ban for an unnecessary act after an off-the-ball shot on Jacob Weitering during Carlton’s 10.15 (75) – 9.17 (71) win.
Midway through the second quarter between the Blues and Tigers, Weitering was giving Faull a mild shepherd before he copped a shot to the stomach.
With the incident coming off the ball, play continued on but it was still picked up by the TV cameras.
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“That might be a little rib tickler there, and that’s been given a week this year already,” Jack Riewoldt said on Fox Footy.
“(AFL football general manager) Greg Swann was adamant that was going to be a suspension at the start of the season.”
Jonty Faull gives Jacob Weitering some attention. Fox Footy
Caller Mark Howard said “you can’t whack blokes in the gut”, to which David King agreed and said it should be a one-week ban.
The blow was especially tough for Weitering, who broke multiple ribs during AFL Origin and is still playing through that injury.
The MRO has graded the incident as intentional, medium impact and to the body, leading to the one-game ban.
After a controversial week following former captain Sam Docherty’s passionate criticism of the side’s performance in Opening Round, the Blues were out of the gates quickly with the first three goals.
By the end of the quarter, the Blues led 6.4 (40) to 3.3 (21).
By half-time it was more of the same for Carlton, leading 9.9 (63) to 5.6 (36).
The Tigers came out strong from the major break and pushed the Blues to the end but ultimately it was an under-pressure Michael Voss pumping his fists at a relieving victory.
Harry McKay and Mitch McGovern kicked two goals each for the Blues while Jagga Smith and Patrick Cripps topped the disposal count on 32.
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