WAFL tribunal: Josh Treacy’s Peel ban upheld, set to miss four game for Fremantle Dockers

Fremantle rookie Josh Treacy will not be able to make his AFL debut for at least a month after his two-game WAFL ban was upheld by the WAFL Tribunal.

Treacy will be suspended for Peel’s first two matches of the WAFL season next month after being found guilty of striking Perth’s Brady Grey in a scratch match on Saturday.

The ban means he will not be eligible for Fremantle until round five.

“Unfortunately for Josh he will be out for two WAFL games and you would be aware that, in essence, he would be unavailable for four AFL games,” Fremantle football manager Peter Bell said.

“We will leave it for others to decide if that is appropriate.”

Treacy failed in his bid to have the guilty finding and penalty overturned after he rejected the two-game ban offered by the match review panel.

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The strike was initially classed as intentional, high contact and medium impact and though he managed to have the conduct downgraded to careless, his not guilty plea meant the two-game ban remained in place.

Bell said Treacy was disappointed with the outcome but would prepare himself to play as soon as his ban was completed.

“He will train very hard and hopefully we will see him on the field very soon,” Bell said.

Treacy, 18, was in line to make his debut for the Dockers on Saturday after coach Justin Longmuir talked up his prospects last week.

“We’ve been rapt with what big Josh Treacy has been doing for us as a first-year rookie,” Longmuir said. “He’s ready and got a body for AFL footy.”

It was the WAFL’s first league tribunal in nearly three years.

The previous hearing occurred 1015 days ago in June 2018 when South Fremantle’s Marlion Pickett was found not guilty of rough conduct on East Fremantle opponent Cam Eardley.

Tribunal chairman Trevor O’Sullivan made the unusual decision to close the hearing to the media.