North Melbourne star Tristan Xerri would have risked a heftier AFL ban had he not shown remorse for wiping blood on the face of Essendon captain Andrew McGrath.
Xerri will miss North’s next three games after he pleaded guilty to his serious misconduct charge.
The only issue at Monday’s tribunal hearing was the severity of the suspension, with the AFL wanting three games and North arguing for two.
In handing down the penalty, tribunal chairman Jeff Gleeson KC said it was “disgraceful behaviour” and noted Xerri’s hand was close to McGrath’s open mouth.
“The ‘look’ of the act is quite shocking,” Gleeson said.
But he also noted Xerri made “no attempt whatsover” to minimise what happened and called the evidence “impressive”.
Xerri was suspended for wiping blood on McGrath. Josh Chadwick/Getty Images
The tribunal said there was “some significance” to Xerri admitting in evidence that there had been blood on his hand, given that was not clear in the video footage.
“If not for Mr Xerri’s early plea and his impressive, candid and remorseful evidence, we may have considered a sanction of more than three weeks as appropriate,” Gleeson said.
Xerri will miss the Good Friday game against Carlton, then matches against Brisbane and Richmond.
He was referred directly to the tribunal and said in evidence that the bizarre incident was a “brain fade”.
As expected, Xerri threw himself at the mercy of the tribunal.
The incident during Saturday night’s game overshadowed North’s 12-point win over the Bombers.
Xerri was suspended for wiping blood on McGrath. Josh Chadwick/Getty Images
Monday’s hearing was held a day earlier than normal.
The incident happened after the North Melbourne big man had complained to an umpire about a blood nose before kicking a goal and clashing physically with McGrath.
Xerri then touched his bloody nose and wiped his hand on McGrath’s face.
The ruckman called McGrath to apologise, saying in evidence that it was a good conversation, and added he was “completely owning” the mistake.
Xerri said he reacted after being sledged by Essendon opponents. He had just kicked the goal from a free kick.
“I was getting called a ‘weak c-word’, a ‘F’ing, flopping c-word’,” he said.
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“It’s not right what I did. I’m sorry and sincerely apologise for that.
“It was just a lapse in judgment. There’s no excuses, mate. It’s a poor look. I had a brain fade. I was defending myself and in that moment I had a brain fade. I should have done better.”
The incident predictably attracted widespread condemnation ahead of the hearing, with AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon on Sunday saying it was “something that we don’t want to see”.
North tried to draw comparisons with previous cases, where Nathan Buckley and Jeremy Howe received one-game bans for wiping blood on opponents’ uniforms.
But Gleeson said those incidents were “quite significantly less serious”.
Also on Monday, West Coast recruit Deven Robertson was offered a one-game ban on a rough conduct charge for his dangerous tackle on Port Adelaide star Zak Butters.
