Richmond will challenge forward Rhyan Mansell’s three-game suspension for pushing St Kilda defender Liam O’Connell into a contest, in what looms as a “test case” for the AFL tribunal.
In the first quarter of Saturday’s game at Marvel Stadium, which the Saints won by 82 points, Mansell shoved O’Connell into the path of Richmond forward Tom Lynch and St Kilda’s Anthony Caminiti.
When attacking the ball, Lynch unintentionally collided with O’Connell, leaving the concussed Irishman dazed and confused, and unable to continue playing.
The match review officer graded the incident careless conduct, severe impact and high contact, slapping Mansell with a three-game ban.
It comes after the AFL recently issued a memo to clubs warning them of the dangers of players recklessly pushing other players.
In Mansell’s defence, Richmond appear almost certain to reference West Coast’s Reuben Ginbey escaping penalty in the pre-season for pushing Richmond’s Sam Lalor into a contest.
That caused the prized No.1 draft pick to suffer a broken jaw and concussion. Tigers coach Adem Yze referenced that incident when asked about Mansell’s push.
“Based on previous incidents, I don’t think that has been an issue,” Yze said. “So hopefully ours isn’t either. We had Sammy Lalor break his jaw, if it is a similar incident, so it’s pretty hard to change the rules during the season.”
Mansell is currently set to miss games against Brisbane, Fremantle and Gold Coast. Geelong captain Patrick Dangerfield labelled the Mansell hearing a “test case”. “We’ve got to be mindful as players, and there’s a duty of care there, and you don’t want it (pushing) creeping in too much,” he said.
“But there is a balance, clearly, as everyone wants to compete, that’s what we love about the game, the combative nature. But there’s a fine balance with player safety around that.
“So I dare say that’s sort of the test case.”
Rhyan Mansell. (Photo by Will Russell/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Dangerfield felt it was important for the league to assess incidents that once may have been written off as accidents.
“There’s going to be times where it’s tested and the status quo of how it’s always been is going to be challenged, but it’s only, I think, being challenged for the right reasons,” he said.
“Because you want players out there available, and where it’s pragmatic, you’ve got to reduce the chances of unfortunate incidents, and potentially this may be along those lines.”
Carlton veteran Sam Docherty sits “on the fence” over the penalty, but noted players understood the AFL’s focus on protecting the head. “It’s tough. There’s so many instances in games where you’ve got to make split-second decisions,” Docherty said.
“I don’t think he meant it but the reality is there was a brutal collision on the other end of it.
“These ones are pretty tough for players to understand, and obviously really hard for the match review (officer) to allocate weeks to.”
Saints to break bank for Blues star
St Kilda are reportedly set to splurge a small fortune on trying to convince Carlton star Tom De Koning to join them next year.
De Koning will be the most sought-after free agent at season’s end and the 25-year-old is weighing up a significant offer from the Blues but it is believed to not be in the same ballpark as St Kilda’s seven-year mega deal.
Channel Seven has reported that Saints will offer $1.7 million per season over the lifetime of the deal for the ruckman.
De Koning was arguably best on ground in Friday’s loss to Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium.
Leading until midway through the last quarter, they conceded eight goals to four in the second half to make it three losses on the trot to start the season.
Aaron Naughton put the Bulldogs back in front with 4.22 remaining, before James O’Donnell slotted the match-winner two minutes later to give his side a dramatic 12.11 (83) to 11.9 (75) victory.
De Koning has been averaging 25 touches per game in 2025.
Gawn stokes fire in Demons
Melbourne are facing the strongest adversity they’ve dealt with in some time, concedes Max Gawn.
But the Demons skipper believes there is no better way to respond to their worst start since 2019 than by digging their heels in against Geelong at GMHBA Stadium on Friday.
Melbourne (0-3) fell three points short against GWS in round one but followed that with dire losses to North Melbourne and Gold Coast.
“Take this with a grain of salt – I really wanted to have some sort of adversity this year. I wanted to see how our group responded when the torch was on us,” Gawn told Triple M radio.
“I didn’t expect it to be the first three weeks of the year.
“We’re now in the biggest adversity we’ve been in for a while as a club. It’s almost exciting in a way.
(Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
“This is when the leaders get to work, the older players get to work and you dig your heels in. You rock up on Monday with a big smile on your face and you’re excited about it.”
Gawn conceded the Demons would be stark underdogs at Geelong but said “that is the game I want more than anything”.
“We get to travel down the highway as a group. Every time we’ve had a good result there, we’ve been a rank outsider,” he said.
“I’m excited to get down there as a group after what will probably be a pretty robust week.”
The phrase “biggest adversity” is telling, given Melbourne’s torrid run since their 2021 premiership.
Melbourne experienced straight-sets finals exits in 2022 and 2023 and last year finished 14th.
There have been question marks over their culture, while Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver contemplated switching clubs at the end of 2024.
Gawn noted Gold Coast’s midfield “pantsed us”, and challenged senior players to lead a turnaround.
“You’ve got to find a healthy balance because if your leaders try and win the game, sometimes it can get a bit too much,” he said. “Certainly, some of our body language – there was some free kicks, arguing with umps, not digging our heels in at times.
“There’s a lot of that and I would say myself, Jack (Viney), Christian, Steven May, Jake Lever – the guys who have been around for a while – would all put our hands up and say we were a part of that at some point.
“So we’ll try and stamp that out and then you watch our younger players fall straight in – you are what your leaders are.”
Gawn conceded it would have been “tough” for Melbourne fans to stomach the poor start. “But we’re trying to change the way we play on the run and we’re trying to have some fun while doing it,” he said.
with AAP
