‘He does it every time I play against him’: Calls to strip footy star of his captaincy as his opponent is left with shocking bruises after being repeatedly PINCHED during a match
- AFL star Ben Stratton to come under scrutiny from the match review committee
- Repeatedly pinched Essendon star Orazio Fantasia during Friday night’s game
- Tactics caught on camera, as was Fantasia’s red and bruised arm afterwards
- There are calls to strip Stratton of the Hawthorn captaincy for one match
Ben Stratton should be stripped of the Hawthorn captaincy after he repeatedly pinched his opponent during his side’s loss to Essendon on Friday night, according to an AFL great.
AFL Match Review Officer Michael Christian will likely hand Stratton a misconduct fine after he was caught on camera nipping the skin of Orazio Fantasia throughout the match at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium.
Fantasia, whose left arm was covered in bruises by the end of the game, said it wasn’t the first time the Hawk’s skipper had used the tactic.
‘I’ve got a couple of bruises on the arm. He loves to pinch,’ Fantasia told Channel 7 after the match.
Orazio Fantasia’s left arm was covered in bruises by the end of the game
Ben Stratton was caught on camera repeatedly pinching Orazio Fantasia during the game
‘He has all the tricks in the book. He’s a really good defender. He’s done it every time I play on him. It’s a tough one.’
While Fantasia appeared to downplay the issue, former Port Adelaide star Kane Cornes called on Hawthorn to dump Stratton as captain for one match.
‘Pinching a defenceless opponent… and it wasn’t just one pinch, it was repeated pinching. You can see on his arm there are seven or eight bruisers that have been left there,’ Cornes said on SEN Radio.
‘This is every bit worth a week suspension… Is there a club sanction that needs to be handed down if the AFL don’t act on this? A week or stripping him of the captaincy for a week is about right for this.’
According to the 2019 tribunal guidelines, pinching incurs a $1500 fine for a first time offence and up to $4000 for repeated offences.
Essendon star Orazio Fantasia went home with a bruised arm (pictured) after copping some special treatment from Hawthorn Hawks opponent Ben Stratton
Stratton’s bizarre tactics to try and put Fantasia off his game didn’t go unnoticed by the television cameras or commentators.
‘It was pointed out at quarter-time, so they’ve had time enough to assess it … and they (the umpires) still haven’t acted on it,’ North Melbourne legend and Fox Footy commentator David King said.
‘They’re asking for trouble… what, are we waiting for Fantasia to respond?
‘You’ve got a chance to knock this on the head straight away.’
Channel Seven commentator Matthew Richardson said the pinching was unnecessary.
Friday night’s clash was a spiteful affair with an all-in brawl at the end of the third quarter
‘You can see the bruising there on Orazio’s arm — and I am not sure why he did that tonight,’ the Richmond Tigers legend said.
‘He is a great defender as it is there is nothing to be gained by him doing it.
‘He’s the captain of the club and it’s just unnecessary. I’m pretty sure he’ll come out and say it was a bit of a brain fade. I think he’ll be embarrassed by it.’
Fellow commentator Cameron Ling agreed.
‘I don’t like it,’ the former Geelong premiership captain said.
I’m surprised Ben Stratton needs to do that.
‘He’s such a good one-on-one player. To see (Fantasia’s) arm like that (is not great).’