Gold Coast Suns suspects their key star Daniel Rioli has suffered a broken jaw after an early collision with Josh Weddle in the game at Carrera against Hawthorn.
Rioli was crunched by Hawthorn’s Weddle in a hip and shoulder charge motion, shy of the half-time buzzer.
Daniel Rioli immediately went off holding his jaw. Fox Footy
It looked to be a fair bump as Rioli was able to get straight up and take his kick, but many believe the Hawks defender could be in hot water.
If it was the Weddle incident that ruled Rioli out for the night, he could face MRO and a possible suspension for a high hit.
Another player who could be in trouble with the MRO is Jack Ginnivan, who got caught up in a scuffle on the ground Zeke Uwland.
Ginnivan gave away a free kick, with Garry Lyon on Fox Footy saying the Hawks player gave a couple of “jumper punches” in the scuffle.
“No question about that (free kick). About three or four (jumper punches),” he said.
“You can get yourself suspended for that, these days,” added Gerard Whateley.
In front of a home crowd at Carrera, the Suns fought for a victory over the Hawks but couldn’t pull it off, falling to a 14.13 (97) to 17.11 (113) defeat.
It was a scrappy match from the get-go.
There was no love lost between both teams, with Hawks midfielder Jai Newcombe sparking an early shoving match after his brilliant goal from outside 50.
Jai Newcombe and Leo Lombard got in each other’s faces. Fox Footy
In the second quarter, Newcombe marked the ball just outside 50 and quickly bombed the ball through the posts to keep the momentum firmly in Hawthorn’s favour ahead of the Suns.
Immediately after the goal, Newcombe got straight into the face of Suns young gun Leo Lombard. Skipper Noah Anderson quickly stepped in, shouldering Newcombe away to protect his teammate.
This triggered an all-in melee as multiple Gold Coast players rushed in to protect their player, leaving the field alight with emotion.
The fight broke out early in the match. via Getty Images
Right at the half time buzzer, Newcombe again got into the drama as he gave away a penalty to Matt Rowell for late contact after shouldering the Suns star, prompting more fiery scenes as Suns players again went after the Hawks.
“Yeah, it’s a bit of physicality. I mean, you probably expect that,” Hawthorn’s James Sicily said at half time.
“Gold Coast (have had) a bit of noise around them during the week, so no doubt they’ve tried to come out and be physical and try to make a point. We’ve got to absorb it. We can absorb it.”
Looking ahead, Gold Coast faces a tough road trip to Perth to play ladder-leaders Fremantle next Sunday, while Hawthorn will host the GWS Giants next Friday.