Giants superstar Toby Greene has been referred straight to the AFL tribunal for his bump on umpire Matt Stevic in Saturday’s thrilling win over the Swans in Launceston.
A suspension which would rule Greene out for Greater Western Sydney’s do-or-die semi-final clash with Geelong at Perth Stadium on Friday.
The two-time All-Australian was locked in a tense conversation with Stevic and made contact with the official as he walked past on the way to the Giants’ huddle at three-quarter time of the elimination final.
Match review officer Michael Christian assessed Greene’s move as intentional umpire contact and sent the incident directly to the tribunal, meaning he wasn’t able to accept an early guilty plea.
If Christian had graded the incident as unreasonable or unnecessary, the firebrand Giant would have been slapped with a fixed financial sanction.
It wasn’t the first time this season that Greene had made contact with an umpire, with his touch of Jacob Mollison in June being discarded by the match review officer.
Reigning Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale was slapped with a $1500 fine for making contact with umpire Matthew Nicholls in April, as he tried to get the official’s attention to show he was bleeding.
A suspension for Greene would put a massive dent in the Giants’ hopes of beating the Cats in their semi-final.
Greene was the only Giant named in the 2021 All-Australian team of 22.
The 27-year-old was also brilliant for GWS in the thrilling one-point win over Sydney in their elimination final.
Greene only managed 10 disposals but jagged three goals and was a continual source of inspiration for the underdogs.
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