Geelong captain Joel Selwood cleared of striking Port Adelaide’s Lindsay Thomas by AFL Tribunal

Ben Jensen 24 April 2018  TOP CAT Joel Selwood has been cleared by the AFL Tribunal of striking Port Adelaide’s Lindsay Thomas, following the spiteful encounter on Saturday night that saw the Cats inflict a defeat on the Power on their home turf. Selwood was charged with striking Thomas in the aftermath of Thomas’ felling of brother Scott Selwood. Selwood was charged with one offence (striking) and Thomas two (the unfair bump on Scott plus striking Joel Selwood) – full details here. Thomas accepted a one match ban for striking Joel but the charge of decking Scott was sent straight to the AFL Tribunal by AFL Match Review Panel (a misnomer as it’s not a panel any more) comprising Michael Christian.

In recent years the Cats have seldom challenged AFL MRP rulings but on this occasion was happy to roll the dice for skipper Selwood, with coach Chris Scott on Monday night’s AFL 360 strongly suggesting they would challenge unless he was convinced otherwise by a ‘team’ including a QC.

Earlier Thomas pleaded guilty to the charge of rough conduct on Scott Selwood, and was given a three match suspension to go with his one match ban for striking brother Joel. Saturday night was Thomas’ first for the Power since crossing from North Melbourne and he may struggle to get back into the side in a month’s time.

The Cats now go into their Saturday afternoon clash with Sydney at GMHBA Stadium more confident with the skipper cleared to play.

Just minutes after kicking his first goal for @pafc, Lindsay Thomas was reported for this bump on Scott Selwood. #AFLPowerCats pic.twitter.com/L4UkROXQZM

— AFL.com.au (@AFLcomau) April 21, 2018