Collingullie-Glenfield Park vice-captain Kal Sykes will have a late start to next season after pleading guilty to striking in the Riverina League grand final.
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The fall-out from a fierce Riverina League grand final has started with Sykes accepting a one-game suspension with an early guilty plea.
Sykes was reported for striking Leeton-Whitton forward Daniel Muir during the half-time melee that erupted moments after a Jayden Klemke goal after the siren.
Sykes was reported and shown a yellow card just moments before the ball was bounced to begin the third quarter.
The report was assessed as intentional, low impact and high contact, resulting in a base sanction of a two-game suspension.
Sykes accepted a one-game ban with an early guilty plea and will miss the opening round of the 2018 season.
Sykes’ ban is the first of what could be a few from the grand final.
The match review panel will view the footage of the grand final in coming days with several incidents from both teams set to come under scrutiny.
In good news from grand final day, 15-year-old goal umpire Ryan Feuerherdt has been cleared of any serious damage after having to be taken off on a stretcher late in the reserve grade game.
He was floored in a collision with a desperate Griffith defender on the goal line and was taken to Wagga Rural Referral Hospital for observation.
After being given the all clear, Feuerherdt was back goal umpiring at the state zone trials in Albury this week.
Meantime, The Rock-Yerong Creek’s Rory Redfern will front the AFL Riverina independent tribunal on Thursday night.
Redfern’s charge stems from the reserve grade elimination final.
TRYC assistant coach Andrew Saddler has been charged by the match review panel for rough conduct on East Wagga-Kooringal’s Luke Cuthbert in the senior elimination final.
It has been graded as careless, high impact and high contact and AFL Riverina hope to sort that case out this week.
The fate of EWK’s Chris Hommes and Griffith veteran Mick Duncan is also expected to be known.
Hommes was charged by the match review panel, while Duncan was cited by Collingullie-Glenfield Park.