Chaplin, Pratt fail at AFL tribunal

Port Adelaide defender Troy Chaplin and North Melbourne backman Daniel Pratt will
both serve suspensions after they failed to beat charges at the AFL Tribunal.
Chaplin will miss the Power's next two matches against Melbourne and West Coast
after being found guilty of charging Brisbane youngster Daniel Rich during
Saturday's match at AAMI Stadium.
Pratt has been forced out of Sunday's clash with Hawthorn in Launceston after
striking Sydney's Nick Malceski at the SCG on Sunday.
They are among five players hit with suspensions from the latest AFL round after
three others submitted early guilty pleas.
Melbourne's Colin Sylvia accepted a three-match suspension for striking Scott
Selwood of West Coast.
Brisbane's Jared Brennan accepted a one-match sanction for headbutting Josh Carr of
Port Adelaide, while Carlton's Mark Austin agreed to a one-match ban for striking
Fremantle's Hayden Ballantyne.
And the Demons' Ricky Petterd was fined for abusive language.
Chaplin copped his two-match ban for an incident which left Rich concussed.
The Power defender arrived late at a marking contest, left the ground and connected
with the head of Rich with his shoulder after the Lions player had marked the ball
running with the flight.
Chaplin argued he was running full pace at the contest and by the time he realised
he would arrive too late to mark or spoil it was impossible to avoid contact.
But he was not helped by the evidence of officiating umpire Chris Kamolins, who gave
evidence that the contact was "unnecessary" and "unreasonable".
Pratt agreed he had struck Malceski, but attempted to have the charge downgraded
from intentional to reckless, which would have been enough to avoid a ban.
Advocate Iain Findlay pointed to the fact the officiating umpire, who had awarded
him a free kick, did not reverse the decision even though he was just a few metres
away from the incident, but the argument failed to sway the tribunal.
Neither Chaplin nor Pratt could have reduced the length of their suspensions by
submitting early guilty pleas, but their decision to fight the charges increases the
demerit points they will carry over.