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Fyfe set for umpire contact MRO scrutiny

3 minute read

Fremantle skipper Nat Fyfe made contact with an umpire during the Dockers' loss to Carlton and is set to attract match review officer scrutiny.

NAT FYFE
NAT FYFE Picture: James Elsby/AFL Media/Getty Images

Fremantle captain Nat Fyfe looks set to be scrutinised by the AFL match review officer for making contact with an umpire in the Dockers' loss to Carlton.

Fyfe was in a scuffle, pushing and shoving with Carlton players at three-quarter time at Marvel Stadium when he was pushed in the back by Matt Cottrell and planted his hand in the chest of umpire Robert O'Gorman.

Fyfe appeared to be steadying himself, rather than deliberately making contact with an umpire, unlike the incident that earned Toby Greene a six-game suspension last year.

But he is still likely to attract the attention of MRO Michael Christian.

"I haven't seen it," coach Justin Longmuir said.

"It's so hard for me to comment when I haven't seen it."

Longmuir believed Carlton had targeted Fyfe, who also had a verbal exchange with Carlton's Jack Silvagni and Nic Newman, during the game.

"I haven't spoken to the skipper about that (the exchange with Carlton players), it's the least of my worries at the moment, to be honest," he said.

"I thought Carlton went after him a bit, especially in the second half. I don't know whether he was the instigator or the retaliator, in terms of the Carlton players, I'm not sure.

"I'll ask him about it during the week but I'm probably more worried about the collective and where we sit as a team."

Carlton counterpart Michael Voss said the Blues didn't have a particular plan for Fyfe while Longmuir didn't believe Carlton had done anything untoward.

"Both teams were just playing it hard and fair," he said.

"Fyfey doesn't take a backwards step around the contest and a lot of their players don't either."

Fyfe had just 11 disposals and lacked impact but Longmuir wasn't particularly concerned.

"We had a lot of guys that didn't have their normal impact," he said.

"Fyfey's probably got, not an excuse, but the reason of being a little bit rusty, working his way back into it."

The Dockers avoided any injuries and will hope to regain Michael Walters against Port Adelaide but Blake Acres and Heath Chapman are "touch-and-go".

Longmuir highlighted poor contest work and forward pressure as key areas to focus.

"You can't just dismiss it. All the coaches will have a good look at it on the plane on the way home," he said.

"There's probably a few things there that I've seen the last couple of weeks and sometimes it takes a loss for the players to understand that it needs fixing."

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