The moment that sparked a player’s change after ruck rule overhaul; Newcombe ban appeal; Petracca’s burning question for Rioli

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In today’s AFL Briefing, your daily wrap of footy news:

New ruck rules mean Geelong’s Shannon Neale will alter his method.
Hawks will appeal Jai Newcombe’s ban for a careless tackle on Dog Ed Richards.
Christian Petracca’s burning question for Daniel Rioli when he arrived at Gold Coast.

Geelong star Shannon Neale has revealed he feared the worst when he clashed knees with Carlton’s Marc Pittonet, revealing the new ruck rules mean he will now adjust the way he jumps at centre bounces.

Neale, 23, has been cleared to play in the club’s season-opener on Friday night against the Suns on the Gold Coast, but only after CT scans and an MRI ruled out a possible posterior cruciate ligament injury in his right knee.

Neale said on Monday there had also been fears of a “little hairline fracture”, but it was later diagnosed as bone bruising.

Shannon Neale (centre) has revealed he had a CT scan and MRI after he was hurt in a ruck contest with Carlton’s Marc Pittonet last week.

“It was a bit of a corkie and bone bruise. It wasn’t straight through the nerve, so it sort of gave me a dead leg. I pulled up well the next day and yeah, it’s really, really good now,” Neale told this masthead.

Asked if he had feared a serious PCL injury, Neale replied: “Yeah. I have never done my knee. You hear stories of, you can run in a straight line but, as soon as you turn, you figure it [the injury] out quickly.

“I felt the contact, obviously, in the ruck. And I was running back into D [defensive] 50, and I went to change direction, that’s when it [knee] went a bit numb. As I said, I have never done my knee before, so it was a bit of a grey area. I was a bit unsure. I was a bit like: ‘What does this mean? What have I done?’

“So that’s when I headed straight for the bench and let the ‘doc’ have an examination. It was all structurally pretty sound.”

The Neale-Pittonet incident sparked more debate that the new ruck rules, which encourage jumping over wrestling, could lead to more PCL injuries.

Melbourne skipper Max Gawn has been vocal with his concerns about knee-on-knee issues.

Neale, an athletic key forward who kicked 44 goals last year, was also used as a relief ruckman last year. But he will now alter his ruck method, keen to have his front foot lifted higher in a bid to avoid bone-and-bone knee clashes.

“I think I naturally bring my foot under my leg a bit more, whereas I have got to keep it [foot] out a bit more as a genuine protector. I drive in with my knee being the furthest point, or the closest point to contact [with an opponent’s knee],” Neale said.

“So, there is always learnings when you get injured. I will keep working on that.”

Cats assistant coach James Kelly had said Neale’s clash may prompt a rethink of who coaches sent to a centre bounce.

Under Chris Scott, the Cats have typically prided themselves on having multiple talls who could ruck – and Neale wants to remain in a forward-ruck role that retired great Tom Hawkins thrived in.

“It’s something I can add to my game … that gets me a little bit more involved,” Neale said.

The Cats expect Jeremy Cameron (quad) to face the Suns after training strongly on Saturday, and hope Bailey Smith (calf) will also be fit. Gryan Miers (thumb) will need to prove his fitness.

Hawks to challenge Newcombe ban

Jon Pierik

Hawthorn will appeal co-captain Jai Newcome’s one-match ban for a careless tackle on Western Bulldog Ed Richards, which threatens to rule him out of the opening round clash against Greater Western Sydney.

Newcombe was suspended for a potentially dangerous tackle which pinned Richards’ right arm in a 44-point loss at the Whitten Oval on Friday. Richards’ head made contact with the ground, although he was not concussed and played out the game.

Match review officer Michael Christian graded the tackle as medium impact, careless and high contact.

Under the AFL’s tribunal guidelines, a tackle can be deemed dangerous if an arm is pinned and leaves the tackled player in a “vulnerable position with little opportunity to protect himself”.

Richards had possession of the ball in his left arm, so he could not use that arm to ease his fall.

A Hawthorn spokesman confirmed on Monday they will challenge the ban.

Former Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley and Melbourne great Garry Lyon both said during the match commentary they expected Newcombe to escape suspension, but Lyon said there were grounds for the Hawk to be banned.

Newcombe’s absence would hurt the Hawks’ hopes on Saturday, for they are already without the injured Will Day for most of the season, and lost fellow onballer James Worpel in a trade to Geelong.

The Giants have issues of their own. Josh Kelly (hip), Tom Green (knee), Sam Taylor (hamstring) and Toby Bedford (hamstring) are sidelined, while Finn Callaghan (hip flexor) still has to prove his fitness.

‘Catch and cook’: stacked Gold Coast the reel deal

Murray Wenzel
When Christian Petracca first arrived on the Gold Coast he had a burning question for Daniel Rioli.

Like the three-time Richmond AFL premiership winner, the departing Melbourne star and Norm Smith Medallist wanted to make a fist of his new life as a Sun.

“When he got here he wanted a crab pot and was asking me what bait he needed,” Rioli told AAP.

“The next day he had it set up, he’s pulled it up and had plenty in there … he’s good.”

Christian Petracca running around in his new Gold Coast colours.

Rioli wouldn’t reveal his secret bait recipe. There’s every chance he’s keeping that information for his next YouTube segment or weekly TV slot, talking all things Gold Coast fishing on the local news.

It’s a part of life the former Tiger, raised in the Northern Territory, missed in Melbourne despite being part of the club’s eventual run of success.

“I love it … here it just reminds me of home,” Rioli said, having arrived last year to help the club to a maiden finals campaign in their 15th season.

“And I get to show a different side to myself, not just the footballer.”

Petracca, of course, has his cooking.

It’s a topic that, “laughably”, if you ask the man himself, became a central narrative to the premiership midfielder’s keenness to leave the underperforming Demons.

The 30-year-old has enjoyed showing the young Suns the ropes in the kitchen and will continue to produce his own cooking masterclasses in his free time, adamant players should be celebrated, not condemned for having an eye to life after football.