AFL MRP to scrutinise Hawk veteran’s bump

Hawthorn defender Josh Gibson’s bump on Geelong’s Tom Ruggles will come under scrutiny from the AFL match review panel on Tuesday.

The Hawks veteran laid a hard shepherd on Ruggles that allowed Isaac Smith to break clear in the second quarter of the Easter Monday encounter at the MCG.

But the pair clashed heads during the contact with Ruggles unable to return to the game.

Gibson emerged after halftime with a bandage around his head.

The Cats will also be sweating on the outcome of the MRP’s assessment of their 86-point win with Sam Menegola and James Parsons reported.

Parsons, an elevated rookie, playing in just his second AFL game, was reported for striking Hawthorn’s Luke Hodge.

The Cats’ midfielder collected Hodge with an elbow to the jaw in an ugly last-quarter incident.

While admitting his player would likely be suspended, Geelong coach Chris Scott attempted to defend his actions.

“It’s a technical deficiency … I’ve got absolutely no qualms about his intent,” Scott told Fox Footy’s AFL 360.

“He’s not the sort of player who would deliberately go out to do that – it’s clearly a technical thing.

“It is an awkward feeling when you’ve decided that you’e not going to tackle but then you’re clearly wrong-footed and you’re stretching to make contact.

“When you’re going in to bump and you think you’re going to make contact cleanly then you’re a little bit wrong-footed you tend to reach and it’s easy for the elbow to come up.

“He’s going to pay a price but we’ve just got to make sure that he’s better for it longer term.”

Menegola was reported for rough conduct for his sling tackle on Hodge in the second quarter.

The MRP assessed the first eight games of round four on Monday and cleared North Melbourne captain Jack Ziebell over his bump on Travis Cloke.

Cloke will be sidelined for four to six weeks after suffering broken ribs as a result of the collision during the fourth quarter of the inaugural Good Friday game.

The review panel deemed Ziebell’s bump as “not unreasonable”.

Essendon’s Conor McKenna was offered a one-match ban for a high bump on Adelaide youngster Riley Knight.

GWS star Tony Greene can take a $1000 fine for striking Port’s Dan Houston.

West Coast forward Mark LeCras has been offered a $1000 fine for rough conduct but the review panel has cleared North Melbourne’s Scott Thompson of any wrongdoing in an incident which felled Western Bulldog Tom Boyd.

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