North Melbourne on Wednesday brushed off accusations from AFL rivals West Coast that Linsday Thomas is a stager.
Kangaroos football manager Donald McDonald says the club couldn’t be happier with their small forward.
West Coast’s Luke Shuey on Tuesday night contested a charge at the tribunal for striking Thomas in the groin. Shuey was found guilty of striking but his suspension was reduced from three matches to two as the tribunal found the blow was delivered to the body and not the groin.
Shuey’s player advocate David Grace made several references during the tribunal hearing to the claim that Thomas had form as someone who feigned injury in a bid to milk free kicks.
“He keeled over in front of the umpire in a way that suggested he was either winded or in pain,” Grace told the tribunal.
“Within 10 seconds of this incident he’s sprinting and showing absolutely no signs of a blow to the groin.”
McDonald said the Kangaroos were unlikely to put blame on an opposition player at a tribunal hearing.
“We don’t bring other players from other clubs into any sort of discussions we have once the game’s over,” McDonald told SEN Radio.
“We just heard it late last night but at the end of the day clubs will put up whatever they want to put up to get their players off.
“It’s not for us to comment on what other players do at other clubs. All we know is we couldn’t be happier with the way Lindsay goes.
“He attacks the footy really hard, plays with a lot of passion and I’m sure all the North supporters are rapt with how he’s been going lately.”