Fremantle tall Brennan Cox and Gold Coast defender Connor Budarick will both await the Match Review Officer's findings from Saturday's action for separate incidents from their two respective games.

A second-term tackle on Hawthorn captain James Sicily could have Cox gaining the scrutiny of the MRO, with Cox twisting his opponent into the ground after he disposed of the ball.

Sicily took possession at ground level and was quick to lose the ball, however Cox continued in his tackle and rotated Sicily with momentum.

The umpire was quick to pay a free kick, but penalised Cox for holding the man rather than paying a dangerous tackle free kick.

Sicily was able to rise to his feet and play out the second quarter.

Elsewhere, things were fiery in Tasmania on the verge of half-time as Gold Coast duo Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson sparked a scuffle with North Melbourne co-captain Jy Simpkin and utility Kayne Turner.

After wrestling with Rowell on the ground, Simpkin knocked an unsuspecting Anderson to the ground off the ball with a heavy bump.

While unlikely to garner strict MRO attention, the Suns may not be in the clear altogether after a dangerous tackle from Budarick on Kangaroos midfielder Tarryn Thomas in the second term.

After breaking free from the contest with ball-in-hand, Thomas was met with a crunching tackle by Budarick, who would take hold of his opponent for some time before Thomas disposed of possession.

As Thomas looked to kick the ball, Budarick continued in the tackle and swung the Kangaroos player across his body and into the ground.

Thomas' head managed to avoid hitting the surface, however the motion of the tackle prompted the umpire to pay a dangerous tackle free kick against Budarick.

 2023-08-26T03:45:00Z 
 
 
Blundstone Arena
NMFC   
132
FT
97
   GC

With Thomas not suffering a blow to the head and able to play out the match, Budarick could avoid a charge altogether.

The action itself is one the AFL has looked to clamp down on in recent years, with Budarick potentially lucky no significant damage came as a result of the tackle.

The Match Review Officer will hand down their findings from Saturday's action on Sunday evening. Any suspension for either of Saturday's earliest two games would lead to bans to commence from the start of next season as all four sides fell short of booking a finals spot.