Tolland will continue their fight against Football Wagga’s lengthy suspension of midfielder Bruno Andre, calling on Football Riverina to overturn the decision after their initial appeal was thrown out by FWW late last week.
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Andre was suspended for an attempted headbutt during a scuffle with Henwood Park coach Matt Menser during round 10, and Football Wagga increased the ban from six weeks to seven following an unsuccessful hearing on Thursday.
The initial ban was just long enough to rub him out for the grand final, should the Wolves make it.
Tribunal panel member Mark Stevens said Tolland’s appeal was rejected because Andre exhibited poor behaviour more than once during the incident.
“It could have been a different story if it was a one-off brain snap, but it wasn’t,” Stevens said.
“It started when he had a physical altercation with the Henwood Park player and when a free kick was called against him as a result, rather than getting out of the scuffle, he elected to continue it by attempting to headbutt his opponent.”
But Tolland president Maurie Hogan is determined to continue fighting for his embattled midfielder.
Hogan conceded it was unlikely the Riverina branch of Football NSW would be able to process the appeal in time to get Andre back on the field, but said the club would make the concerted push purely to clear the midfielder’s name.
“We do think it’s a little bit unfair and will be taking the appeal to the next level,” Hogan said.
“We wouldn't elevate this to the next stage if we didn’t think we had a reasonable chance of success.”
But if the appeal is unsuccessful, the suspension will spell the end of Andre’s Tolland career with the talented speedster set to move interstate in the offseason.
“That would be quite a sad ending,” Hogan said.
“Bruno had been playing football for 23 years and hadn’t been sent off once.
“He has been an outstanding role model for the young guys at our club.”
The initial suspension came at a particularly bad time for Tolland, having hit a purple patch of form with consecutive victories over ladder-leading Lake Albert and previously unbeaten Henwood Park, proving they were a genuine chance to send Andre off with a premiership.
Wolves co-coach Chris Ayton previously described Andre as the key to his midfield.
The midfielder spent the past two years playing up front before excelling in the midfield this season.
