Star Roo sweats on tribunal

STAR Clarence midfielder Jackson O’Brien’s hopes of featuring in the remainder of the State League finals series hinge on the outcome of the independent tribunal tonight.

O’Brien, the Roos’ best player in the qualifying final loss to Lauderdale last Saturday, was reported in a spicy first quarter for striking Bryce Walsh. The incident was rated intentional, high contact and high impact by the match day umpire and referred directly to the tribunal.

Video footage was inconclusive and so the match review panel was not in a position to review it to make an assessment.

Clarence faces Launceston at Blundstone Arena this weekend in a cut-throat semi-final and the loss of O’Brien, a dual premiership player who returned to the club from South Australia, would be huge.

Meanwhile, TSL general manager Carl Saunder has defended the league’s decision to flip the location of this weekend’s Mercury Cup fixtures.

Launceston, which finished on top, earned hosting rights for the second semi-final against Clarence, but will now travel south so both clubs’ teams are in the same region.

“We looked at the second week of the finals and obviously we have three teams competing in both competitions, the Mercury Cup and the TSL competition,” Saunder said.

“We thought it was best for those clubs to keep their volunteers and resources together. We understand Launceston footy club is disappointed ... however we took into consideration all clubs and all their needs.”