Dan Houston accepts two-match ban as Collingwood face tough AFL road trip
Collingwood recruit Dan Houston will be sidelined for both games on his AFL club’s eight-day road trip after accepting a two-match suspension for his high bump on Carlton forward Lachie Fogarty.
The Magpies face tough interstate assignments against last year’s grand finalists over the next two rounds, starting with Sydney at Adelaide Oval in Gather Round.
They will then head directly to Queensland, where they take on defending premiers Brisbane at the Gabba in round six.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.All-Australian defender Houston is unavailable after he was charged with rough conduct over his bump on Fogarty during the Pies’ win over Carlton last Thursday night.
Houston left the ground and connected with a forearm to Fogarty’s head as the ball bounced over the players.
His actions were graded careless conduct, high impact and contact.
Fortunately for both players, Fogarty was not seriously hurt and played out the match.
He is available for the winless Blues’ clash with West Coast on Saturday.
Houston, who missed the Magpies’ season opener while serving a five-match ban for a brutal bump on Adelaide’s Izak Rankine, initially felt there was nothing untoward in the latest incident.
But after considering their options, Collingwood on Monday accepted the two-match ban.
“I thought I had fair play on the ball and obviously I’ve gone to protect myself and those things happen,” Houston told Seven post-match.
“I didn’t actually realise it happened ... I was fully focused on the team.
“I think it’s such a hard game to play, and especially behind the ball you’ve got to make those split-second decisions when you see the ball coming at you.
“He was in front of me and, yeah, I don’t think there’s anything in it.”
GWS captain Toby Greene is also facing match-review scrutiny after a ‘tunnelling’ incident involving West Coast’s Matt Owies.
Greene cut across Owies’ path and brought his opponent crashing to the ground after contact during the Giants’ big win on Sunday.
It came just days after Melbourne’s Bayley Fritsch was hit with a $1500 for rough conduct over a similar incident involving Geelong’s Tom Stewart.
Port Adelaide’s Darcy Byrne-Jones is also in the spotlight after appearing to have caught Ryan Byrnes high with a bump during his side’s loss to St Kilda on Sunday.
