- Melbourne beat the Adelaide Crows on Thursday night
- Gambling incident could leave star in trouble
- Kysaiah Pickett could receive a fine or suspension
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Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has come under fire from fans after making light of Kysaiah Pickett’s high shot over Jake Soligo in the team’s win over Adelaide on Thursday night.
The Demons star left the ground while trying to smother a handball from the Crows midfielder, but hit him in the jaw with his elbow, leaving him sprawled on the ground.
In his post-match press conference, Simon Goodwin admitted the flashpoint will attract scrutiny from the AFL, before laughing as he downplayed the hit.
“He was obviously trying to stifle a handball and I’m sure that will be looked at during the week,” Goodwin said.
‘But we’ll just wait and see with that.
Demons coach Simon Goodwin (pictured center after the team’s win over Adelaide on Thursday night) has come under fire from fans for a post-match comment.
Melbourne star Kysaiah Pickett (pictured) could be in trouble after elbowing Jake Soligo’s head while trying to smother a ball.
“He puts enormous pressure, tries to intercept the ball, that’s his game.”
“He’s modified a lot of what he did before, and I don’t see that much in his game anymore. Tonight is a little different.
He then smiled to himself and said “it was quite light” as the press came to an end.
The blow bore some similarity to Collingwood star Brayden Maynard’s blow gone awry that knocked out Demons star Angus Brayshaw in last year’s elimination final.
Brayshaw was forced to retire aged just 28 as the shocking blow proved too much for him after suffering previous head knocks.
Soligo (pictured) later downplayed Pickett’s hit, but fans were as furious as Goodwin at what they saw as a shocking insight into the league’s deadly head hit problem.
The devastating news that his career was over made him the latest in a long line of players who have suffered shocking effects from multiple concussions, with many worried about contracting the deadly brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
Fans were quick to criticize Goodwin for not taking the issue seriously.
“Ask Brayshaw if he thinks it was ‘light’,” wrote one on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Another echoed those comments, saying: “Do us a favor and ask Angus Brayshaw about ‘light’ hits to the head.”
“Gotta love self interest, at least it tries @melbournefc a bit of a different comment on the Maynard incident,” added a third.
‘I can’t stand this guy. Light!! Do we take blows to the head seriously? another fan wrote.
Football fans cited Brayden Maynard’s career-ending hit against Melbourne’s Angus Brayshaw (pictured) last year, which left him with a concussion.
However, Soligo is downplaying the Pickett incident.
Pickett will learn his fate later on Friday after match review officer Michael Christian examines his high contact with Soligo.
Pickett jumped off the ground and made glancing contact with Soligo during Melbourne’s 15-point win at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night.
“I didn’t think there was too much (in this),” Soligo told reporters Friday.
‘I kept playing during the game so I was fine. I was all sweet.’
Pickett last year received two suspensions for high hits on opponents.