Carter found not guilty at BFL tribunal

GOLDEN Square assistant coach Nick Carter has been cleared to play in this Saturday’s final round of the Bendigo Bank Bendigo Football League season against South Bendigo.In a 40-minute hearing, Carter was last night found not guilty of striking Castlemaine’s Guy Marshall in the Bulldogs’ round 16 game against the Magpies.The case was scheduled to be held last week, but was postponed as Carter was unavailable to attend because of work commitments in Sydney.Carter, one of the highest profile players in the BFL, was reported by goal umpire Scott Hagley.Hagley was 55 metres away from the incident when he said he saw Carter hit Marshall in the mouth after they had become involved in a push and shove.Hagley described Carter’s right hand blow as being delivered with a closed fist and with about 75 per cent force.In his evidence, Marshall said he had become involved in a push and shove with Carter after the Bulldogs’ veteran had tackled him high after he had handballed the ball.Marshall, who later injured his knee in the game, couldn’t recall being struck by Carter during their push and shove.He said the heaviest contact he had received from Carter was in the high tackle, which prompted the push and shove, and also for Marshall to tell Carter, ‘‘I thought you were better than that’’.Carter admitted to laying a ‘‘fairly ordinary’’ tackle on Marshall, in which he was surprised not to have a free kick paid against him.Carter said he and Marshall ‘‘traded some pushes and shoves and expletives’’, but denied striking the Castlemaine ruckman.In delivering the not guilty verdict, tribunal chairman Terry Kennedy said it was clear a push and shove had taken place, but it was unsure as to whether a punch was thrown.Meanwhile, Stanhope full-forward Aaron James last night successfully appealed his deregistration from AFL Victoria and is expected to line up against Violet Town in the Kyabram District Football League this Saturday. James, who was a member of Gisborne’s 2002 BFL premiership, was earlier in the year suspended for three weeks after being found guilty on a misconduct charge during Stanhope’s 37-point win over Undera on May 17.With the three-game suspension, and taking into account his past record, it tipped James over the 16-game suspension threshold allowed by AFL Victoria, and as a result, he was deregistered. Prior to his deregistration, James, who played 54 AFL games for Collingwood, Richmond and the Western Bulldogs, had kicked 61 goals in six games for the season, made up of hauls of 11, 9, 11, 19, 7 and 4.‘‘We’ve already informed the league president and league secretary to implement plan A, which is immediate re-registration,’’ Stanhope president Gavan Poole said.‘‘Aaron had to show the tribunal that he had taken steps to rehabilitate himself with respect to the issues that had caused his loss of temper, and he has certainly done that with professional help.‘‘But while the tribunal upheld the appeal, it hastened to add that if he ever gets found guilty again, that means life.’’ Stanhope boasts the best winning streak in the VCFL with 26 consecutive victories.