Crow gets longest AFLW suspension for clash that left Giant with neck injury

Australia World

Adelaide Crows footballer Ebony Marinoff has been handed the longest suspension in AFLW history, after a collision left Greater Western Sydney recruit Brid Stack with a fractured vertebra.

The AFL tribunal suspended Marinoff for three matches on Tuesday night — a ban that will see the two-time premiership player miss a third of the season.

Marinoff pleaded not guilty but the tribunal upheld the charge of engaging in forceful front-on contact.

“Every time I go onto the footy field I want to play hard but fair football and I believe that’s what I did on Sunday. 

“I reached out to Brid to send her my best and I wish her a fast recovery.”

The incident occurred during a trial match at Norwood Oval on Sunday, and play was stopped in the fourth quarter of the match.

Stack, 34, was left with a stable fracture of her C7 vertebra but no injury to surrounding nerves.

The Irish recruit has been released from hospital and should make a full recovery.

Brid Stack playing for the Giants in their AFLW practice match against Adelaide at Norwood Oval in Adelaide on January 17, 2021.Brid Stack playing for the Giants in their AFLW practice match against Adelaide at Norwood Oval in Adelaide on January 17, 2021.
Greater Western Sydney’s Irish import Bríd Stack joined the Giants last year.(Twitter: GWS Giants)

The Giants said Stack does not require surgery but will wear a neck brace in the short term.

It was Stack’s first AFLW game after moving to Australia with her husband and one-year-old son.

The former Gaelic footballer is an 11-time All-Ireland winner for Cork and was named the 2016 Ladies Footballer of the Year.

Crows head of women’s football Phil Harper said the club will assess its options.

“The club is really disappointed with this outcome and we’ll be considering our options going forward,” he said.

Adelaide is set to play Melbourne in round one on Saturday, January 30.