Sydney midfielder and Brownlow medal fancy Isaac Heeney could have something to answer for following an incident with St Kilda's Jimmy Webster during Sunday's loss at Marvel Stadium.
In the third term, Heeney can be seen attempting to create separation from Webster in the forward line, swinging his right arm and making contact with the Saints defender's face, which subsequently drew blood.
Under new rules before the 2024 season, high fends can be considered intentional, with the Match Review Officer (MRO) likely to grade the incident as well as low impact and high contact, constituting a one-week suspension.
Isaac Heeney was involved in this incident with Jimmy Webster late in the third quarter.#AFLSaintsSwans pic.twitter.com/jjOpkrVxts
— AFL (@AFL) July 7, 2024
Speaking on Fox Footy, Herald Sun journalist Jon Ralph was convinced Heeney would receive a suspension due to changed regulations in the off-season around intentional fend-offs.
โThere is a big development โ it looks almost certain that Isaac Heeney is out of the Bronlow race,โ Ralph said.
โLast year, this would very much have been a careless impact hit. It drew blood, it was clearly high. This summer, the AFL changed their rules about high fends behind play โ for instance, like this.
โAs it says in the rules, players trying to gain separation for the purpose of contesting the ball, even if it results in a strike โ that's exactly what Heeney was trying to do ... That rule change is so significant.
โThe rules say it will usually be graded as intentional, so there's your little bit of grey area that we'll discuss for the next 48 hours.โ
If the Swans midfielder were to be suspended, he would be out of the running of the AFL's most prestigious individual award.
The MRO will release its findings from Sunday's games later today.
MORE TO COME.
