Adelaide co-captain Taylor Walker says he’s challenging a rough conduct charge at the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday night.
Walker believes his tackle on Port Adelaide’s Riley Bonner which led to the charge is “part of the game” as he prepares to contest the $3000 fine offered by the match review panel.
But Walker will challenge his proposed sanction for a tackle on Bonner during Saturday’s game which resulted in both players falling and the Power player hitting his head on the ground.
“I’m going to fight it,” Walker told Triple M radio on Tuesday.
“It’s part of our game.”
The match review panel rated Walker’s tackle as careless with low impact to the head, offering a $3,000 fine which would have been reduced to $2,000 if the Crows forward accepted an early guilty plea.
Four other players – Essendon’s Kyle Langford, Carlton’s Harry McKay, North Melbourne’s Tom Campbell and Sydney’s Nick Blakey – have accepted sanctions from charges in the opening round of pre-season games.
Campbell accepted a one-match suspension for rough conduct on St Kilda’s Lewis Pierce.
Langford took a $1,000 sanction fine for making contact with an umpire, McKay accepted a $2,000 fine for striking Essendon’s Patrick Ambrose and Blakey was fined the same amount for striking Matt Buntine (GWS).
