FREMANTLE superstar and AFLW best and fairest Kiara Bowers has been offered a two-match suspension for rough conduct.
As reported by womens.afl on Wednesday morning, Bowers was under scrutiny from the Match Review Officer after an off-the-ball bump on Kirsty Lamb in the last quarter of Tuesday night’s match.
>> WATCH THE INCIDENT IN THE PLAYER BELOW
The MRO has since graded the incident intentional (as opposed to careless), medium impact and high contact.
The penalty still stands at two matches with an early guilty plea.
Bowers blocked Lamb with a bump, which resulted in the tough Dog being on the ground for some time, and needed assistance from trainers before making her way to the bench.
She returned to the field for the final minutes of the game.
Asked if one of his players would come under scrutiny for her tackle on Matilda Sergeant, coach Nathan Burke made his feelings on the Bowers-Lamb incident clear.
"I think she'll be OK. Although the person who hit 'Lamby', they might be a different story, but we'll see how that plays out," he said in his post-match press conference.
The AFL has introduced rules for the 2022 season which sees any high bump classified as rough conduct and has the potential to cause injury to be graded as medium impact, which can result in a one-match suspension.
Fremantle plays North Melbourne on Sunday in Tasmania. Oddly enough, Bowers overturned a one-match suspension at the Tribunal in order to play the Kangaroos in the final round of last year.
Docker Emma O'Driscoll and Bulldog Jemima Woods were both cleared for tackles which resulted in concussions to Gemma Lagioia and Matilda Sergeant respectively.
"The ball is kicked towards the Western Bulldogs’ forward 50. Lagioia takes possession of the football and is tackled by O’Driscoll, who is simultaneously being rotated to the ground by Western Bulldogs’ Jemima Woods," the MRO statement said.
"It was the view of the Match Review Officer that O’Driscoll’s actions were not unreasonable in the circumstances. No further action was taken.
"The incident between Western Bulldogs' Jemima Woods and Fremantle’s Matilda Sergeant from the third quarter of Tuesday night's match between Fremantle and the Western Bulldogs was assessed. The football is kicked towards the wing and spills to the ground following a contest.
"Sergeant takes possession of the loose football and is immediately tackled by Woods. It was the view of the Match Review Officer that Woods' actions were not unreasonable in the circumstances. No further action was taken."
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