Carlton forward Chris Yarran has been suspended for three weeks by the AFL Tribunal for striking Essendon‘s Paul Chapman during a scuffle between the two players in the first quarter of their Saturday afternoon clash at the MCG.
The brawl occurred in the opening minutes of the game between the Blues and the Bombers, with Yarran and Chapman wrestling with each other, before Yarran appeared to throw what looked like a loose left-hand cross that landed a glancing blow on Chapman’s head, knocking him to the ground and opening up a cut above his right eye.
Chapman left the ground shortly thereafter under the blood rule and was subsequently sent to the change rooms for 20 minutes to undergo concussion testing. Gerard Whateley reported on AFL 360 that Chapman also left Essendon’s training facilities 30 minutes early on Monday due to the lingering effects of the blow.
The AFL‘s highly contentious Match Review Panel opted to send the case directly to a Tribunal Hearing, rather than assess it under their own framework like the vast majority of other incidents.
The Tribunal hearing took place last night, with Yarran pleading guilty and the Tribunal delivering the accompanying three game suspension. Yarran’s counsel successfully argued that the contact made was of a high level, but was not severe, warranting a lower penalty than the one initially pushed for by the league’s judiciary.
Part of the argument was the comparison to an incident last year involving Richmond‘s Ty Vickery, who knocked out Dean Cox of the West Coast Eagles, and received a subsequent suspension of four games.
Despite Yarran’s suspension, it’s speculated he may have struggled to retain his spot in the Blues side this week regardless, after a lacklustre performance against the Bombers that returned only 10 possessions.
Yarran will be eligible to return to action for Carlton’s round seven clash against the Greater Western Sydney Giants on May 16th.
Photo: Michael Dodge via Getty Images.
