Mooney was charged with a level one engaging in rough conduct offence against Rick Ladson, after bumping him. Ladson appeared winded slightly but played the game out without injury.
Given recent decisions such as David Hille’s contact with Jimmy Bartel in round one and Josh Kennedy’s bump that resulted in Colin Sylvia’s broken jaw, the decision to cite Mooney raised many an eye brow around the football world.
The Cats challenged the charge and were unsuccessful. Geelong’s general manager of football Neil Balme said the club was very disappointed with the decision.
"That's the way ... we find it a bit hard to know what realistic alternative Cameron had, but that's the game I guess," he said.
"I know it's a tough job the tribunal's got, but we are disappointed."
The incident was assessed by Mark Fraser and the match review panel as negligent conduct (one point), low impact (one point) and high contact (two points). This is a total of four activation points, resulting in a classification of a level one offence, drawing 125 demerit points and a one-match sanction.
Mooney’s existing record of one match suspended within the last three years, increasing the penalty by 10 per cent to 137.50 points. He also has 31.25 demerit points carried over from within the last 12 months, increasing the penalty to 168.75 points. An early plea would have reduced the sanction by 25 per cent to 126.56 points and a one-match sanction.
He will miss the Dockers game and have 68.75 carry over points.
