Prespakis overturns AFLW ban but Allen cops three weeks

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 medical 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.

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Essendon have taken a giant step towards a debut AFLW finals appearance after holding off a persistent Richmond outfit to win a fierce contest by 17 points.

In just their second AFLW season, the Bombers sit 5-2 and will finish the round no lower than sixth after a critical victory over the more-fancied Tigers at Ikon Park.

Richmond opened the scoring through Emelia Yassir just 26 seconds into Saturday night’s Indigenous Round match, but the Bombers powered ahead from there to win 8.5 (53) to 5.6 (36).

Essendon shocked the Tigers with four first-quarter goals as co-captain Bonnie Toogood and dynamic forward Daria Bannister slotted majors in a minute of each other.

“It was a crucial (match),” Toogood told the Seven Network.

“I had a chat with ‘Woody’ (coach Natalie Wood) before the game and I was like ‘I’m pretty nervous for this, this means a lot for our season’.

“It’s really pleasing we got the goals we did against a really tough opposition.

“We don’t (talk about finals yet) because we’re just looking for improvement each week.”

Despite copping a hard tag from former Carlton teammate Sarah Hosking, Bombers star Madison Prespakis was still influential with 24 possessions, six clearances and a goal.

But Prespakis will have a nervous wait to learn if she is cited by the match review officer after laying a potential dangerous tackle on Richmond star Monique Conti.

The Bombers’ result was soured somewhat after Bannister left the field late in the final quarter with a suspected knee injury.

Bannister has endured a wretched run with injury, with the 24-year-old missing the Western Bulldogs’ premiership in 2018 after rupturing her ACL in that season.

Yassir was brilliant for the Tigers with three goals, but did spend some time off the field in the second-half getting her ankle checked out.

As always, Conti was prolific and finished with a game-high 27 possessions.

Essendon should take care of lowly West Coast next week before finishing off the home-and-away season with winnable matches against Carlton and Gold Coast.

The Bombers will need to win at least two of those games to be assured of finishing inside the top-eight but could still sneak in with just one victory.

Richmond have slumped to 3-4 and are in danger of missing the finals after finishing in the top-four last season before they were knocked out in straight sets.