Ty Vickery sent straight to AFL Tribunal

First, it wiped the memory of West Coast ruckman Dean Cox.

Now, Tyrone Vickery’s roundhouse strike is set to wipe the Tigers big man out for the rest of the AFL season.

Vickery is facing a lengthy suspension after hitting Cox in the jaw with a crude blow during Richmond’s 17-point win on Friday night.

The case has been referred directly to the AFL Tribunal, meaning Vickery won’t be able to reduce his likely ban with an early guilty plea.

Vickery, who has 43.75 carryover points after striking North Melbourne’s Michael Firrito earlier this year, will find out his fate on Tuesday night.

With the Tigers almost certain to miss the finals, any suspension longer than four games would rule Vickery out for the rest of the year.

Cox, who was knocked out, has little memory of the game – and none of the incident itself.

The retiring Eagle didn’t suffer any structural damage, but he isn’t in any rush to be the best of mates with Vickery despite receiving an apology from the 24-year-old.

“He just wanted to personally apologise for the incident and make sure that my family was aware of that as well,” Cox told Perth radio station 6PR on Monday

“It was good of him to actually ring and pass on his apology.

“I wouldn’t say we’re best of mates though.”

After receiving a medical report from West Coast and viewing video evidence, the AFL’s match review panel assessed the incident as intentional conduct (three points), severe impact (four points) and high contact (two points).

The total of nine points triggers a direct referral to the tribunal.

The MRP cleared Cox of any wrongdoing for his elbow to Vickery’s mid-riff just moments before Vickery hit back, saying the force of the Eagles legend’s blow was deemed below that required for a reportable offence.

AFL greats Matthew Lloyd, Tony Shaw and Michael Voss were all critical of Vickery’s actions, while current players Taylor Walker and Brisbane’s Pearce Hanley also expressed their distaste.

Cox said there had been no bad blood between him and Vickery leading into Friday’s game.

“I haven’t had too much to do with him over my career,” Cox said.

“He didn’t mention anything about why the incident happened. And I can’t remember anything of it.”

Eagles players Mark LeCras and Luke Shuey were charged with misconduct offences after remonstrating with Vickery.

They can accept $900 fines with early guilty pleas.

Sydney’s Jeremy Laidler can accept a reprimand and 70.31 carryover points with an early guilty plea after being charged with striking Hawthorn’s Jack Gunston during the third quarter of Saturday’s game at the MCG.

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