Port Adelaide star Dan Houston has been handed a five-match ban for his brutal bump on Adelaide’s Izak Rankine throughout final weekend’s Showdown.
Houston fronted the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday night time, with Port arguing for a three-match ban. The membership urged Rankine’s concussion was a results of his head hitting the bottom following the bump from Houston, reasonably than the contact with Houston itself.
The five-match suspension means Houston will miss the rest of the 2024 season, even when Port Adelaide advances all the best way to the Grand Closing.
The AFL argued for a penalty of 5 matches, with Adelaide’s medical report noting that Rankine additionally suffered an AC joint damage to his proper shoulder because of Houston’s bump.
After apologising to Rankine forward of his tribunal listening to, Houston issued one other formal apology to the 24-year-old Adelaide star in a press release on the tribunal.
“I remorse my choice to bump Izak and I am very sorry for the damage my choice precipitated,” he mentioned.
“I keep in mind the ball coming in my course after [Adelaide player Mark] Keane’s double-fisted spoil. My first thought was to get the ball myself.
“I recall seeing Rankine after I was inside a meter or so of him. I do not keep in mind making the choice to bump. It’s clear from the movie that I did make that call. I by no means meant to harm Izak, not to mention concuss him.
“I do not imagine I made any contact in any respect with Izak’s head, neck or high of his shoulders, however I settle for that my bump precipitated his head to hit the bottom, and due to that, that is categorised as excessive contact.
“On the time, I did not see his head hit the bottom as a result of I used to be watching the ball. I do not know why I did not deal with. Up to now, this has been my first intuition. I do not know why I made a decision to bump as a result of I can not keep in mind making that call as a result of all of it occurred so rapidly.”
The suspension is the primary of Houston’s 168-game profession within the AFL, a truth Port Adelaide raised to the Tribunal as part of its case.
“I prefer to assume that I am a good participant. I’ve by no means been suspended earlier than. I have been an AFL participant for 9 years,” he mentioned.
“I’ve performed in lots of finals, however by no means in a grand closing. Shedding the chance to play in a grand closing could be crushing to me.”
Whereas the Tribunal took Houston’s prior document into consideration, Tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson KC mentioned Houston had an obligation of care to not deal with Rankine in a method that will lead to an offence of tough conduct.
“Houston breached that obligation of care, and his breach was vital,” he mentioned.
“The carelessness was vital, the impression was extreme, and the implications for Rankine had been evident.”
Whereas Houston’s ban ends his season, it may additionally doubtlessly finish his profession at Port Adelaide, with the 27-year-old reportedly contemplating a commerce again to his dwelling state of Victoria.
Houston penned a five-year extension with Port in 2022, a deal which sees him locked in by way of the 2027 season, however he has been linked with a transfer to a Victorian membership in latest months.
In stays unclear whether or not Port Adelaide could be keen to grant a commerce again dwelling for Houston, who was an All-Australian final season and is broadly thought to be among the finest kicks within the competitors.
