Vickery ‘remorseful’ over Cox clash

Condemned Richmond forward Ty Vickery will learn his fate on Monday after committing one of football’s cardinal sins.

Vickery found West Coast ruckman Dean Cox’s jaw with a roundhouse punch on Friday night, just days after the Eagles legend announced this year would be his last.

A three-week ban, reduced from four weeks with an early guilty plea, appears likely on an application of the Match Review Panel guidelines.

However there is still the possibility of a direct referral to the AFL Tribunal, which could lay the groundwork for a longer ban.

Cox slumped to the ground after the hit, and was substituted out of the game shortly after with concussion.

The 24-year-old Tiger first heard about it from Cox’s teammates, then from a parochial Patersons Stadium crowd.

Now he’s hearing all about it from the AFL community.

Brisbane Lions great Michael Voss said Vickery should make a full public apology.

Essendon goalkicking legend Matt Lloyd said a three-match ban, as projected by a potential Match Review Panel assessment, would not be enough.

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said Vickery regretted the incident.

“Ty’s remorseful, it’s not something he’s about,” he told Channel Seven’s Game Day.

“We as a footy club understand that, and so we’ll go through the due process and cop our whack.”

Two current players took to Twitter to condemn the strike, with Brisbane’s Pierce Hanley declaring it a “S**t act” and Adelaide Crows forward Taylor Walker saying “What a disgrace!!!”

Their thoughts were echoed by fans while Vickery’s teammates rallied to his defence.

Chris Newman said his team appreciated Vickery’s aggression, while Brett Deledio said his side would support him if, as widely expected, Vickery is handed a lengthy ban.

“We encourage Ty to play aggressive, obviously we don’t like to king-hit blokes or swing arms like that,” Deledio said.

“If he does get rubbed out we’ll miss him.

“It is what it is. Whatever happens, happens.”

As Vickery went to the bench at Patersons Stadium, he was harangued by irate Eagles fans, who were within touching distance of the player.

The incident has sparked calls to create greater separation between fans and players at the Perth venue.

“We had to walk through the crowd and it’s probably not the most happy environment at that stage,” Hardwick said.

“It was a little bit intimidating.”

Richmond won the match played in wet conditions by 17 points to stay alive in the hunt to play finals football.

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