AFLW Tribunal hands Allen three-match ban, Prespakis free
Adelaide premiership defender Najwa Allen has been handed a three-match suspension by the AFLW Tribunal for her high shepherd that concussed Western Bulldogs forward Kirsten McLeod.
But star Essendon midfielder Madison Prespakis is still eligible for the league’s best-and-fairest award after overturning her one-match ban for a dumping tackle.
Allen was sent straight to the tribunal for her hit on McLeod after it was classified as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact.
The Bulldogs m
edical report stated McLeod was set to miss three training days and either one or two matches.
Allen pleaded guilty to the hit, but Adelaide counsel Andrew Culshaw fought to have the severe impact classification downgraded to high or medium.
Culshaw used the example of Patrick Dangerfield’s flying bump on then-Crow Jake Kelly in 2021 as an example of what a true severe impact situation looked like.
Dangerfield received a three-match ban for the bump that left Kelly with a heavy concussion and a broken nose.
“It might cause you to flinch a little bit when you first see it,” Culshaw said of the Dangerfield bump.
“It looks aggressive and forceful. Severe impact will usually involve that unrestrained or excessive force.
“This incident (involving Allen) does not merit a sledgehammer punishment that comes with severe impact.
“This was intended to be a legal shepherd. It was delivered with some force but with restrained force, and it went wrong.”
AFL counsel Lisa Hannon successfully argued the hit contained all the necessary ingredients to be classified as severe.
“While the incident appeared relatively innocuous at first glance, on closer viewing it was not surprising a concussion ensued,” AFLW Tribunal chairman Jeff Gleeson said.
“There was a potential for a facial injury given the force and location of contact to the head.”
The ban means Allen will miss the remaining three games of the AFLW season for the ladder-leading Crows.
Prespakis challenged the one-game ban she received for her spear tackle on Sarah Hosking, pleading not guilty.
“She (Hosking) dropped her shoulder. I just stood there as still as possible,” Prespakis said during her evidence.
“I feel like if she didn’t drive into me with force, I would have been able to hold her up.”
Gleeson said the three-person AFLW Tribunal panel didn’t all agree on the case, but the majority voted Prespakis should be cleared of any wrongdoing.
Prespakis, who has averaged 27 disposals and five tackles a game this season, is now free to play against West Coast this week.
