Albury Morris medallist Elliott Powell charged with striking Charlie Sanson

Albury co-captain and Morris medallist Elliott Powell has been charged with striking.

The charge stems from an incident during a match against Lavington on Saturday at Albury Sportsground. Powell was reported by the boundary umpire on the western side of the ground after being involved in a running battle with Lavington's Charlie Sanson.

Around the 23-minute mark of the third quarter, Powell and Sanson were running down the wing near the old scoreboard. The pair tangled near the 50m arc, resulting in Sanson falling to the ground for about 20 seconds. After getting up, Sanson ran towards Powell near the centre of the 50m arc, leading to another physical confrontation where they wrestled on the ground. There is no vision available of this incident.

Powell started the fourth quarter on the field but, following a discussion with umpires near the centre, discovered he had been reported and was forced to spend 15 minutes off the ground. The boundary umpire was unable to inform the field umpires of the report before the three-quarter time siren, which sounded shortly after the incident. The report was made during the three-quarter time break at the first available opportunity.

The incident was graded as intentional conduct, high contact (head), and low impact. This grading carries a base sanction of a two-match suspension. However, Powell can accept a one-match ban with an early guilty plea.