‘Cannot have this’: Xerri’s ugly incident takes the focus off Essendon’s 0-3 start
Updated ,first published
North Melbourne ruckman Tristan Xerri is set to be sent straight to the tribunal and is in danger of a multiple-week suspension after appearing to smear blood on the face of Essendon skipper Andrew McGrath in the Kangaroos’ two-goal victory on Saturday night.
Pressure continues to mount on Bombers coach Brad Scott, whose team is just one loss shy of equalling a club-record 17th consecutive defeat next week after they were outplayed by the Kangaroos for all but the final 20 minutes of the game.
But North’s first win over the Bombers since 2016 was marred by an ugly incident involving their inspirational giant Xerri, who is facing a serious misconduct charge when the match review officer Michael Christian hands down his findings on Sunday.
Xerri was scuffling with McGrath when he touched his bloodied nose then appeared to wipe his hand on the Bomber’s face.
Former Collingwood captain Nathan Buckley was in 2002 suspended for a game for smearing his blood on the guernsey of Geelong opponent Cameron Ling in a landmark case. Xerri can expect a longer sanction given his contact was to McGrath’s skin. Any suspension would result in Xerri missing a winnable marquee Good Friday match against Carlton.
Under tribunal guidelines, Christian has the power to refer serious acts of misconduct directly to the tribunal.
Misconduct covers any act which would be “reasonably regarded as unacceptable or unsportsmanlike or where it had the effect or potential to prejudice the reputation of any person, club or the AFL or to bring the game of football into disrepute”, the tribunal guidelines say.
Respected sports physician Dr Peter Larkins and former St Kilda star Leigh Montagna are among those who have called for Xerri to be suspended.
“This needs definitive AFL response – cannot have this go without games sanction,” Larkins wrote on X.
Xerri’s moment of madness came minutes after he had given away a 100-metre penalty for remonstrating with the umpire over a ruck infringement free kick and being slow to return the ball to Lachlan Blakiston. He was then felled after being shoved by McGrath and crashing into an oncoming Archie Roberts.
Amid the mayhem, Xerri, who suffered a blood nose from the incident, was left unguarded in North’s forward 50 as he recovered from the hit. He marked and goaled from a turnover by the Bombers and it was from the push and shove after this goal where Xerri made contact with McGrath.
“This is the issue here – he’s telling McGrath he’s got a blood nose, and that’s what you don’t want to see,” Lyon said of Xerri’s actions after reviewing a replay of the incident.
“That’s not what you want to see in the game.”
North coach Alastair Clarkson was tight-lipped when asked about the incident after the game.
“I’ll make no comment until I see it,” Clarkson said. “Just let it unfold, and I’ll have a little later on.”
Xerri’s brain fade ensures the immediate spotlight is not on Scott, but the Dons face another difficult week leading into their clash with the undefeated Western Bulldogs on Sunday night.
A loss there would see them equal the club’s worst losing streak of 17, set in 2016 when the Bombers were decimated by the drugs saga suspensions.
The Bombers trailed by as much as 37 points early in the last quarter on Saturday night but booted the last four goals of the game to give fans hope of a great escape.
Former skipper Zach Merrett was well held by North young gun Finn O’Sullivan, limited to just 10 possessions, his lowest tally since round one in 2018 and his fifth lowest in his 254-game career.
Scott urged disillusioned Bombers fans to be patient with the club’s strategy of building for the medium-to-long-term instead of turning to a quick fix. The 23 the Dons fielded included 10 with less than 50 games’ experience and four with 10 games or fewer under their belt.
“It’ll make my life a lot easier just to bring a whole lot of experienced players in, but I’m not in it for the easy, I’m in it to build a platform for this club that has been starved of success for a long time, and we want to turn that around quickly,” Scott said.
“The decisions that we’re making are to build that platform, not to look for the quick fix, which is very tempting when you feel some pressure.”
He can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
“Essendon’s been around for over 150 years through some really difficult times. We’re going through a difficult time at the moment, but we’ll be fine,” Scott said.
“We’ve got a strategy. It’s really clear. We know what we’re doing medium-to-long-term is something that we’re really excited about, and the decisions we made to look to the medium-to-long-term, we accepted that there was short-term vulnerability, and there might be some short-term pain, but we’re willing to endure that.”
Scott said the Bombers’ poor ball use was a major factor in their defeat on Saturday and contributed to them conceding 138 marks – their third 100-plus total in as many games this year. North had not planned to retain possession in that manner, Clarkson said, but had taken what was on offer.
“You don’t want that, but a big part of the issue there is just our execution with ball in hand, and when you turn the ball over and the opposition shift the ball, one uncontested mark turns into 10,” Scott said. “And you don’t need too many chains for that to happen.
“It’s not as if we were sitting back behind the ball. Clearly they wanted to possess the ball in the back half, we need to get better at defending that. But some of the places we’re turning over the ball at the moment, it’s very hard to set up behind that.”
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