ON SATURDAY, North Melbourne forward Jarrad Waite was reported in his first game back after six weeks on the sidelines, and on Monday he was suspended.
Regardless of the merits of the ban, it was consistent with a trend that has emerged in Waite's 223-game career.
He is often reported soon after he returns from a stint on the sidelines.
The facts don't lie.
Four times he has been reported in his first game back from a spell (if you count the round-one report in 2012 after two pre-season games).
Six times he has been reported in his second game back from a spell (although the round-two report in 2014 for staging came after two pre-season games).
Once he has been suspended in his third game back.
It all makes the first of his 12 career reports something of an anomaly: that came in the sixth game of his career when he was suspended for striking Hawthorn's Shane Crawford.
Twice he was reported but subsequently cleared, with his 2012 charge happening in the opening two minutes of the season when he ran front on into Richmond's Dylan Grimes while playing for Carlton.
He was also reported in his second game for North Melbourne in the 2015 NAB Challenge when he hit Hawthorn's Ben Stratton while spoiling, a charge the Match Review Panel subsequently threw out.
Such figures point to why he gained a reputation throughout his 184 games at Carlton as being undisciplined.
It is a reputation he has done well to discard during his time at North Melbourne, showing his brilliance in finals, in the first nine rounds of last season, and again last Saturday when he kicked six goals after taking three marks inside 50 and kicking three majors in the first quarter.
That he also finished the game against Adelaide incurring his latest suspension for a dangerous tackle on Adelaide's Tom Lynch won't be a step back for his reputation.
The one-week suspension may well have been warranted under rules protecting the head, but it certainly wasn't due to a lack of discipline on Waite's behalf.
JARRAD WAITE: REPORTED 12 TIMES FROM 2003-2017
| FIRST GAME BACK FROM A SPELL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Round one | 2012 | Rough conduct on Richmond's Dylan Grimes | Cleared by the MRP* |
| Round six | 2013 | Misconduct (head butt) on Melbourne's Tom McDonald | One-match ban |
| Pre-season | 2017 | Kneeing Sydney's Harry Marsh | $1000 fine |
| Round seven | 2017 | Rough conduct on Adelaide's Tom Lynch | One-match ban |
| SECOND GAME BACK FROM A SPELL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-season | 2008 | Striking Hawthorn's Tim Clarke | Reprimand |
| Round eight | 2010 | Rough conduct on Port Adelaide's Jason Davenport | One-match ban |
| Round 13 | 2010 | Rough conduct on Fremantle's Paul Duffield | Two-match ban |
| Round two | 2014 | Staging in incident with Richmond's Jake King | Reprimand* |
| Pre-season | 2015 | Striking Hawthorn's Ben Stratton | Dismissed due to insufficient force |
| Round seven | 2015 | Rough conduct on Essendon's Zach Merrett | $1000 fine |
| THIRD GAME BACK FROM A SPELL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Round nine | 2008 | Striking Fremantle's Chris Mayne | One-match ban |
| SIXTH GAME OF CAREER | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Round six | 2003 | Striking Hawthorn's Shane Crawford | Two-match ban |
*He played two pre-season games in 2012 and 2014 before his early premiership season reports
North Melbourne was keen to contest the charge, as football manager Cameron Joyce made clear.
"Based on the classification of the charge and after taking legal advice, we were unable to find any likely grounds to successfully contest it despite the fact we were keen to do so," he said.
Sadly, the decision was just consistent with the career of a player who takes time to settle into his work before he becomes less noticeable to umpires and Match Review Panel members.
Including the first game in each of his 15 seasons, he has returned from a spell on 36 occasions.
That he has ended up on report after three games on 12 – or one-third of those occasions – makes him one of the most talented yet flighty colts the game has seen.
Once the bell rings, it's on.
