Adelaide Crows footballer Ebony Marinoff has been handed the longest suspension in AFLW history, after a collision left Greater Western Sydney recruit Brid Stack with a fractured vertebra.
Key points:
- Marinoff and the Crows have expressed disappointment with the outcome
- Brid Stack suffered a fractured vertebra from a collision
- She has since been released from hospital and is expected to make a full recovery
The AFL tribunal suspended Marinoff for three matches on Tuesday night — a ban that will see the two-time premiership player miss a third of the season.
Marinoff pleaded not guilty but the tribunal upheld the charge of engaging in forceful front-on contact.
“Every time I go onto the footy field I want to play hard but fair football and I believe that’s what I did on Sunday.
“I reached out to Brid to send her my best and I wish her a fast recovery.”
The incident occurred during a trial match at Norwood Oval on Sunday, and play was stopped in the fourth quarter of the match.
Stack, 34, was left with a stable fracture of her C7 vertebra but no injury to surrounding nerves.
The Irish recruit has been released from hospital and should make a full recovery.
The Giants said Stack does not require surgery but will wear a neck brace in the short term.
It was Stack’s first AFLW game after moving to Australia with her husband and one-year-old son.
The former Gaelic footballer is an 11-time All-Ireland winner for Cork and was named the 2016 Ladies Footballer of the Year.
Crows head of women’s football Phil Harper said the club will assess its options.
“The club is really disappointed with this outcome and we’ll be considering our options going forward,” he said.
Adelaide is set to play Melbourne in round one on Saturday, January 30.
