Darcy Byrne-Jones fearing MRO action after ‘niggly’ move floors Dayne Zorko
Port Adelaide midfielder Zak Butters could draw attention from the match review officer after pushing former Brisbane captain Dayne Zorko in the back off the ball, in a qualifying final that saw the Power suffer injury blows.
The Lions advanced to a home preliminary final with an emphatic 19.9 (123) to 11.9 (75) victory over the Power at the Gabba on Saturday night.
Injury concerns to Trent McKenzie (ankle) and Dylan Williams (hamstring) summed up a miserable night for the Power, who are now set to face the Giants in a semi-final at Adelaide Oval next week.
McKenzie was seen limping from the field and tossing his mouthguard in frustration.
As for Butters’ fate, Port Adelaide and Hawthorn champion Shaun Burgoyne was quick to shut down any concerns, saying the incident would not draw any attention with the MRO.
“He obviously bumped him in the back. I’m not too sure how hard it was or whether there was some acting in involved, but Zorko got up pretty quickly,” Shaun Burgoyne said on the Seven coverage.
Hawthorn champion Luke Hodge also gave his thoughts, saying the league would investigate but passing it off as a normal part of finals football.
“I think the thing they look at is it’s off the ball,” Hodge said on the Seven broadcast.
“There’s niggly stuff in finals football, this happens a lot.
“The AFL won’t like the look of it, but I don’t think it’s in the category to get him rubbed out.
“Might be a little bit of pocket change taken out, but I don’t think it’s going to be the severity of missing a week.”
The Power came under pressure in the second half, losing half of their bench within the space of a minute.
Shortly after making the tactical decision to substitute Darcy Byrne-Jones out of the game for Travis Boak, the Power lost McKenzie and Williams.
The carnage saw Port Adelaide drop to just two on the bench, with a fit Byrne-Jones left on the pine unable to be used again.
Port Adelaide now must beat GWS at Adelaide Oval to book a spot in the preliminary finals.
Meantime, Brisbane will play the winner of the Melbourne-Carlton semi-final.
