Remorseful Melbourne player Jeremy Howe admits he has embarrassed himself and his AFL club by smearing blood on an opponent’s shorts.
But the big-leaping Demon won’t miss an AFL game, after pleading guilty to misconduct and receiving a reprimand at Tuesday night’s tribunal hearing.
The 22-year-old second-year player wiped his bleeding knee on the shorts of Port Adelaide’s Tom Jonas during Saturday night’s clash in Darwin.
Angered that Jonas was trying to draw the umpires’ attention to his grazed knee and have him sent off under the blood rule, Howe admitted he acted rashly and wrongly.
“It was pure frustration, it happened in the heat of the moment,” Howe said.
“It’s an embarrassment to myself, it was out of character and it’s an embarrassment to the football club.”
Both Howe’s advocate Iain Findlay and tribunal counsel Jeff Gleeson SC recommended that the Demon receive only a reprimand rather than a suspension.
Both urged the jury to take into account that despite only inconclusive video footage of the incident being available, Howe had immediately made a full admission to an AFL investigator.
He also sought out Melbourne’s club doctor to get information about any potential danger to Jonas.
The Demons will now have the doctor address the entire playing list about the issue.
Howe’s record of not having been sanctioned for a previous offence at any level was also stressed.
His sanction, of 93.75 demerit points, was the equivalent of having a one-match ban discounted by 25 per cent for a guilty plea.
Howe again expressed his remorse after the decision was handed down and was thankful he could play against North Melbourne on Saturday.
“I’m just really looking forward to being able to get out with the boys and play footy this weekend,” he told reporters.
The most recent previous case of a player smearing blood on an opponent was 10 years ago, when then-Collingwood player, now Magpies coach, Nathan Buckley was suspended for one game for wiping his blood on Geelong’s Cameron Ling.
“Given the hysteria that followed it I felt fortunate just to get a week,” Buckley said on Tuesday.