The alleged incident against Geelong’s Steve Johnson occurred in the second quarter of Saturday night’s game at Patersons Stadium.
The MRP gave Clarke 125 demerit points and a one-match sanction, but an early plea will reduce it to a reprimand and 93.75 demerit points towards his future record.
Based on the video evidence available and a medical report from Geelong, the incident was assessed as reckless conduct (two points), low impact (one point) and high contact (two points).
This was a total of five activation points, resulting in a classification of a level one offence. Clarke has no existing good or bad record. An early plea reduced the sanction by 25 per cent.
Johnson faces a one-game ban after he was charged with misconduct for alleged contact with his head to Ryan Crowley, also during the second quarter.
Due to his previous poor record and carry-over demerit points from a previous offence, his one-match sanction has to remain at one-match, even with an early plea.
Based on the video evidence available and a medical report from Fremantle, the incident was assessed as reckless conduct (two points), low impact (one point) and high contact (two points).
This was a total of five activation points, resulting in a classification of a level two offence, drawing 125 demerit points and a one-match sanction. Johnson has an existing bad record of five matches suspended within the last two years, increasing the penalty by 30 per cent to 162.50 points and a one-match sanction. He also has 71.78 demerit points carried over within the last 12 months, increasing the penalty to 234.28 points and a two-match sanction. An early plea reduces the sanction by 25 per cent to 175.31 demerit points and a one-match sanction.
Contact between Johnson and Michael Barlow from the fourth quarter of Saturday’s match was also assessed, but the MRP deemed that the force used was below that required to constitute a reportable offence and a free kick was paid at the time for the high contact.
