St Albans’ midfielder Bailey Coutts has been cleared of any wrongdoing following AFL Barwon’s Match Review Panel assessment of a bump on star Lara midfielder Darby Henderson.
The MRP viewed the vision of the incident at Lara Recreation Reserve, and it is understood that in their explanation to the respective clubs, they believed that both Henderson and Coutts contributed to the contact.
However, the finding won’t bring a conclusion to the matter, with Lara confirming that it will ask for the incident to be investigated.
“Lara acknowledges the AFL Barwon MRP has reviewed the incident and deemed there is no case to answer,” president Chris Spence said in a statement.
“However, we disagree with the finding, and we will be going through due process by requesting an investigation into what we believe to be the serious nature of this incident.
“We will be limiting any further comments in the public space to allow the investigation process to be handled in the appropriate way.
“AFL Barwon is aware of our intention to request an investigation, and we are currently completing the paperwork.”
Cats coach and father of Darby, Brett Henderson, told K rock Football he believed the first-quarter bump by Coutts resulted in his son, who has a history of head knocks, suffering another concussion that has him weighing up his playing future.
St Albans says the finding vindicates its rejection of Henderson’s claim that Darby was targeted.
“We acknowledge that we don’t want to see any player get injured, especially players of Darby’s calibre that make the GFL a better competition for players like him playing in it,” Supersaints football boss Sam Wolfenden said in a statement.
“We have firmly believed from the outset that we did not target Darby and that Bailey’s actions were well within the boundaries of acceptable football actions.
“The MRP has confirmed this view by finding no reportable actions and laying no charges against Bailey for the incident.
“We are excited for the next month of games and to have a big back end of the year.
“We wish Darby all the best.”
X: @krockfootball
