Brisbane Lions defender Ty Gallop has been suspended for three games for a serious misconduct act he admits is a “very bad look” for the AFL.
Gallop, from the Sunshine Coast, pleaded guilty at the AFL tribunal on Tuesday night for what he described as retaliation on Mitch Georgiades after the Port Adelaide forward grabbed his broken thumb.
The 20-year-old had tackled Georgiades to the ground during Sunday’s clash in Brisbane and, after the ball left the area, shoved the Port attacker face-first into the turf.
Gallop played the match with strapping on a broken right thumb.
“Mitch has grabbed my thumb as I have gone to stand up,” Gallop said, adding Georgiades’ action was intentional.
But Gallop expressed remorse for retaliating, saying he had phoned Georgiades to apologise.
“Looking back now and watching the footage, I understand that the retaliation to what happened wasn’t fair,” he said.
“I have gone out of my way to push him down, which I am sorry for and I do regret. I’d like to have that time over again.
“It’s a very bad look and there’s no room for it in footy.”
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Gallop said his retaliation was an “immediate reaction”.
“I have grabbed the back of his jersey and pushed him back into the ground,” he said.
“I think I play a hard brand of footy but I play a very fair brand of footy as well … it was purely out of retaliation.”
Under questioning from the AFL’s counsel Nick Pane, Gallop agreed his act was totally unreasonable and unacceptable.
Pane asked the tribunal for a three-game suspension.
“Georgiades’ head made forceful contact with the ground,” Pane said. “The action had significant potential to cause serious injury.”
The Port spearhead wasn’t hurt in the incident.
Gallop’s counsel Adrian Anderson said the 23-gamer had “lashed out” but argued for a two-match ban.
“There is a context here,” Anderson said.
“It’s different where someone has a broken thumb and it’s grabbed and they react in the heat of the moment.”
After hearing just over one hour of evidence, tribunal chairman Jeff Gleeson KC and members Darren Gaspar and Scott Stevens returned a verdict some 50 minutes later.
Gleeson said the tribunal gave no weight in its deliberations to Gallop’s thumb being grabbed before his misconduct.
“The vision of the serious misconduct is startling in the degree to which it is unsportsmanlike,” he said.
Gallop is the sixth AFL player suspended on a serious misconduct charge and the second this season, following North Melbourne ruckman Tristan Xerri’s three-game ban for wiping blood onto the face of Essendon captain Andrew McGrath in a match in March.
Gallop, who went to Mountain Creek State High, came through the ranks at clubs at Kawana and Maroochydore.
He was in the Lions’ grand-final winning team last year, in just his sixth AFL game.
