Brisbane star ripped for ‘nasty act’ after copping lengthy ban
Updated . First published
Brisbane defender Ty Gallop has been handed a three-game suspension by the AFL’s tribunal over an off-ball incident where he slammed Port Adelaide forward Mitch Georgiades’ head into the turf on Sunday.
After aggressively tackling the Power star to ground with a sling motion, narrowly avoiding his head hitting grass, Gallop then picked Georgiades up by the back of his jumper and slammed him face-first into the ground.
Gallop slams Georgiades’ head into the turf off the ball. Fox Footy
The key defender pleaded guilty on Tuesday night, but stated he was angry and retaliating to a previous altercation when the incident occurred.
Gallop came into the game with a broken thumb and was wearing a guard on it. He thought Georgiades had intentionally grabbed it earlier in the game, leading to his frustration.
However, he conceded on Tuesday night after reviewing the footage that it was actually unintentional.
The Lions felt a two-game ban was sufficient given the Port Adelaide player wasn’t injured, but the tribunal settled on three weeks, with chair Jeff Gleeson calling the footage “startling”.
He added that Gallop’s remorse for his actions saved him from an even lengthier ban.
Hawthorn legend Dermott Brereton supported the ban, calling the incident a “terrible look” for the game.
“So often a player will pick you up by the back of your jumper and help you up to your feet in those situations so you kind of go limp. So to have a player pick you up like that and then go ‘bang’, I thought it was a really nasty act,” Brereton told Nine’s Footy Classified on Tuesday night.
Jimmy Bartel meanwhile has warned the AFL the incident has exposed a flaw in the game’s ability to rule on such incidents.
Bartel believes Gallop should be sanctioned for the dangerous action, but called out the AFL for not reforming the MRO (match review officer) matrix to be able to handle these kinds of incidents.
MRO Michael Christian, who sent the incident to the tribunal, must follow the match review matrix to institute a fine or a suspension, which means it will need to be graded careless or intentional and deemed low, medium or high impact.
A grading of intentional conduct, with low impact to the head would see Gallop cop a one-game ban, though this doesn’t take into account the fact that the incident occurred away from the play and was a non-football act, and was clearly well below what the tribunal ultimately deemed the incident worth.
Mitch Georgiades of the Power is tackled by Ty Gallop of the Lions. AFL Photos via Getty Images
Given a one-game ban was insufficient for the nature of the incident, the only option left to Christian was to send it to the tribunal.
“This is the problem, he picks him up, rag dolls him, and shoves his head into the ground,” Bartel told Nine’s Footy Furnace.
“It will be up to Michael Christian if he wants to suspend him it’ll depend on how he puts it into his matrix.
“If they’d listened to anyone over the last five years, they would have put that into the matrix, but they have no want or desire to fix the MRO.
“Fix the MRO or just tell us that it’s perfect.”
Brisbane great Alastair Lynch questioned Gallop in the moment during the broadcast, particularly given Georgiades’ ongoing battles with previous concussions.
“That’s just a stupid action. Mitch has had his issues with concussion. We don’t need to see it,” Lynch told Fox Footy.
Port Adelaide coach Josh Carr called out Gallop himself after the match.
“I didn’t like (it),” Carr told reporters.
“It wasn’t a great look, but I’m on the other side of it.
“They’re a team that plays tough and probably pushes the limits, and we got the free kick, so we got rewarded. Probably not much more to say.”
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan hit back at Carr, defending his players’ physicality.
“That’s his opinion. He’s allowed to have it,” Fagan said of Carr.
“You don’t be one of the better teams in the competition if you don’t play a hard, physical brand.
“So, I think that’s what we do. I don’t think we do it unfairly. I think we brought good pressure today.”
Gallop will now miss a critical three-week stretch for Brisbane, as they push for a top two spot and a home qualifying final.
He will miss games against Carlton, Hawthorn and Gold Coast, before being available to return in the final week of the home-and-away season.
Gallop has emerged as a promising young key defender this season, after playing forward in Brisbane’s 2025 premiership side.
