Eagles midfielder hit hardest as Match Review Panel pings four
WEST Coast midfielder Patrick McGinnity, Adelaide big man Shaun McKernan, Port Adelaide forward Justin Westhoff and Greater Western Sydney midfielder Taylor Adams are all facing a stint on the sidelines after being offered suspensions by the Match Review Panel.
McGinnity faces a three-match ban for his sling tackle on Crows onballer Bernie Vince, while McKernan can accept a two-game suspension for elbowing Eagles midfielder Brad Sheppard. Westhoff and Adams have both been offered one-match bans.
But there's good news for Giants key forward Jeremy Cameron, Brisbane Lions co-captain Jonathan Brown and Hawthorn star Sam Mitchell.
They were all involved in incidents that were assessed, but all three were cleared of any wrongdoing.
The match-day report laid against Essendon's David Myers for striking Port Adelaide's Robbie Gray was also thrown out.
McGinnity has been charged with engaging in rough conduct against Vince during the last quarter of the Eagles' narrow win at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night.
The panel graded the incident as negligent, high impact and high contact.
The initial penalty was a three-match suspension, which was increased to four when McGinnity's carryover points from a previous offence were added.
He can have the ban reduced to three games if he pleads guilty.
McKernan has been charged with striking Sheppard during the first quarter of Saturday night's game.
The panel decided McKernan's action was reckless, high impact and high contact.
The initial penalty was a three-match suspension, but he can have it reduced to two if he pleads guilty.
Westhoff has been cited for striking Essendon defender Cale Hooker during the third quarter of Sunday's twilight game at Etihad Stadium.
The contact was graded as intentional, low impact and high contact.
The initial penalty was a two-match suspension, but it was reduced to one when his good record was taken into account.
Adams has been cited for striking Adam Cooney during the second quarter of Saturday's clash between the Giants and the Western Bulldogs in Canberra.
The panel decided the punch that Adams landed on Cooney was intentional, of low impact but high contact.
His initial penalty was a two-game suspension, but he can reduce it to one with an early guilty plea.
Cooney can accept a $900 fine for his involvement in the melee that followed.
Lions midfielder Dayne Zorko has been cited for punching Gold Coast defender Tom Murphy in the groin.
Zorko has been offered a reprimand and 93.75 carryover points.
Of the incidents that prompted no action, Cameron's bump on Jason Johannisen attracted the most attention because the emerging Western Bulldog has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a dislocated shoulder.
However, the MRP decided that "Cameron did not have a realistic alternative way to contest the ball".
The clash between Mitchell and Joel Corey, which resulted in the Geelong veteran being knocked out and taken from the field on a stretcher, was closely looked at.
But the panel decided that it was Corey who created the situation by tackling Mitchell and dragging him to the ground.
The soft blow that Mitchell landed on Cats tagger Taylor Hunt earlier in the game was looked at but not deemed to require an explanation.
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