The AFL’s match review officer has been blasted for a lenient penalty handed to Collingwood recruit Lachie Schultz.
Schultz had a brain fade during the last quarter of the Magpies’ clash with Carlton, and “rabbit-punched” Blues star Blake Acres in the back of the head.
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The incident happened at a stoppage near Collingwood’s forward line, after Acres had given Schultz a shove in the chest.
But Schultz’s reaction was inexplicable, then running at Acres and hitting him in the back of head only metres away from the onlooking umpire.
The match review officer graded the incident as intentional conduct, low impact and high contact, and gave Schultz a one-match ban.
But veteran AFL commentator Dwayne Russell has slammed that punishment.
“How can you only get one week for that? That’s not our game … one week is garbage,” Russell said on SEN.
And Russell’s SEN colleague and Aussie basketball icon Andrew Gaze also believed the one-match sanction was a nonsense.
“To me I thought it was a horrific look and to me one week is not enough for the act,” Gaze said.
“I’m sure there was some provocation and he might be a ripping fella … but the act itself to me is one of the worst ones you can have …
“Someone is running away and you come from behind and you’re hitting them in the back of the head.”
Collingwood coach Craig McRae confirmed he had spoken to Schultz about the incident.
“Yeah, I’m not going to condone the behaviour. I’m not here to do that,” McRae told Gaze.
“I had a good chat to Lachie today (Tuesday) about it. He’s really remorseful. He’s a great young kid and he’s really harsh on himself.
“I said to him, ‘This game is hard enough, don’t give yourself black eyes’ … but he’s very remorseful.
“We’ll accept the one week and there’s two ways you can look at this – what can you do about the past, not much, well, this is an opportunity to freshen up and be better for it.
“And learn the critical moments in the game, frustration is one thing, but to take it out on the opposition like that and (give away) the free kick … it’s not something we want.
“The young lad is going to learn a lesson, isn’t he?”
Gaze insisted that the one-match ban was not enough of a punishment for the “really poor act”, even though he admitted under the current rules that the AFL had got it right.
Immediately after the incident veteran sports reporter Jon Ralph described the act as an “old-fashioned rabbit punch”.
The ban comes as the Magpies face an injury crisis.
Jordan De Goey and Tom Mitchell both missed the Carlton game due to injury and forward Beau McCreery was subbed out of the game with concussion after copping a knee to the jaw in the second quarter.
McCreery will also miss the Eagles game this week due to the AFL’s concussion protocols, while De Goey has been unable to train since the Magpies’ draw with Essendon on Anzac Day because of groin soreness.
There are some suggestions De Goey is battling osteitis pubis, while Mitchell — who has had ongoing foot issue — was hospitalised with a bad case of appendicitis and will also be sidelined for this week.
Collingwood also confirmed on Tuesday that Brody Mihocek would miss 2-3 weeks after scans revealed a grade 1 strain to his hamstring.
