No wallet woe as pair win staging appeals

RICHMOND premiership pair Dylan Grimes and Nick Vlastuin have shaken the tag of being stagers, cleared of their fines after successful appeals.

The duo challenged the financial penalties that were laid down by match review officer Michael Christian after last Saturday’s Dreamtime game in Darwin via written submission.

And the AFL tribunal dismissed both charges, relieving the pair of their respective $1250 and $750.

They are “proud men”, according to coach Damien Hardwick, who admitted he had been guilty of the act in his playing days.

“We’re just pleased with the process we went through,” Hardwick said. “Those guys are very proud men and once again these things happen in football all the time. I’m not going to sit here and say I didn’t do it, I certainly staged at various stages as well. It’s something that’s prevalent in AFL footy and we’re just happy with the process we went through to get those boys cleared. It’s a positive for us.”

Tribunal member Wayne Henwood — who made the ruling — said that a “prop” from Stringer had contributed to the movement in the Grimes case.

“(Grimes’) trajectory towards the ball had been altered by the propping and contact made by the Essendon player Stringer to the player’s back,” he said in his finding. “It can be seen in the vision that the player’s left foot digs into the turf and a tuft of grass appears indicating the players attempt to stay on course to contest the fall of the football.”

Henwood said that Vlastuin had copped contact to the “chest, shoulder and neck region” from Bellchambers in what could be described as “a courageous act” of running with the flight of the ball at speed and unaware of what may be coming. And the act — which had been alleged to be staging — should instead be viewed as an “instinctive reaction”.

Grimes had been charged with the offence for a second time after he was sanctioned in last year’s qualifying final.

He was also subsequently subjected to a barrage of social media abuse.