One of the leading contenders for this year’s Whitley Medal is out of contention after Werribee Centrals captain Michael Culliver accepted a one-match suspension for an incident in Saturday’s loss to Winchelsea.
Culliver, who leads the GDFNL in disposals after 12 rounds, was reported for striking and shown a yellow card during the final term of the thrilling clash at Galvin Park for striking Blues tagger Noah Harvey.
AFL Barwon’s Match Review Panel assessed the incident as intentional conduct, high contact, and low impact, drawing a two-match sanction.
However, an early guilty plea from Culliver, who finished joint runner-up in last year’s Whitley Medal, will see him miss this week’s clash with Bannockburn at Victoria Park.
Meanwhile, Winchelsea has chosen not to challenge a two-match suspension offered to Callum Nankervis for rough conduct on Bryce Linehan-Cunningham in a second-quarter incident that left the Centurion concussed.
It is understood that Nankervis is overseas for the length of the ban.
It was assessed as careless conduct, high contact, and high impact.
In the same incident, Winchelsea’s Zach Ross suffered a cut to his mouth that required surgery.
X: @krockfootball
