Lara coach Brett Henderson believes the AFL Barwon Tribunal should deal with an incident during Saturday’s loss to St Albans that has left his son Darby weighing up his football future.
Already medically retired from VFL level, where he played 54 games with Williamstown, the Cats claim Darby suffered another concussion as the result of a bump from Supersaint Bailey Coutts during the first quarter of the 151-point loss at Lara Recreation Reserve.
“He’s struggling physically at the moment,” Henderson said earlier this afternoon. “He’s got a sore jaw, he’s got a throbbing headache. He’s still in bed.
“I’m pretty upset about what happened.
“I’ve watched it a few times. The ball’s left the area. It’s a bump – it’s a late bump.
“If you choose to bump and the player gets concussed, well, I think you do the time.
“The way I see it, that goes to the tribunal.”
WHAT’S YOUR DECISION? – SCROLL TO 28 MINUTES ON THE STREAM TO SEE THE INCIDENT
Henderson believes Darby, who was averaging a league-high 48.6 disposals per game before yesterday’s clash, was targeted by St Albans.
“I would be a fool to think that his name wasn’t mentioned in pre-game planning,” he said.
“And from what I saw from the first bounce, I feel as though he was targeted.”
However, Supersaints football boss Sam Wolfenden has rejected suggestions Darby was targeted, while also defending Coutts’ action, for which no report was laid.
“We hope Darby is okay; he’s a great player,” Wolfenden said.
“From our perspective, Bailey has played within the rules, and the umpiring on the day suggests that he did.
“The fact that there was no report made by the umpires and (the incident) wasn’t broached with Rick (Munn), myself, or (president) Craig Osborne.
“From our perspective, we feel like we’ve played within the rules.”
X: @krockfootball
