Kangaroos' Tristan Xerri sent to AFL tribunal after alleged blood

North Melbourne ruckman Tristan Xerri has been sent directly to the AFL tribunal after he allegedly wiped blood on Essendon captain Andy McGrath's face.

Xerri is facing a lengthy suspension for a charge of serious misconduct, with AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon eager to see such incidents stamped out of the game.

"It's something that we don't want to see," Dillon said on Sunday.

"That's been assessed by the match review officer and it will go directly to the tribunal, and that will either be heard on Monday or Tuesday night.

"It's not something we want to see on our fields."

Xerri had complained to an umpire about a bloodied nose before kicking a goal and clashing physically with McGrath during the Kangaroos' 12-point win over the Bombers at Docklands on Saturday night.

He then touched his nose and appeared to wipe his hand on McGrath's face.

Xerri will likely face a greater penalty than the one-match suspension handed to former Collingwood captain Nathan Buckley when he wiped blood on Geelong's Cameron Ling's jumper in 2002.

Buckley later admitted it was a tactic designed to force Ling off the ground under the blood rule.

Ling recalled there was "no malice" in the Buckley incident but declared Xerri's action unacceptable in the modern game.

"I don't want a young player that I'm coaching in the under-12s this season seeing that and thinking that's OK to do on a footy field," Ling told ABC radio on Sunday.

"I don't want a local footballer doing it, I don't want anyone else in the AFL doing it. I get there needs to be a punishment.

"I look at it more from a lens of the overall sport of football. That act is not an acceptable act on the football field."

AFL speaks on slur allegation

Dillon said an investigation was ongoing into an allegation St Kilda player Lance Collard used a homophobic slur in a VFL match against Frankston.

The allegation comes less than two years after Collard served a six-match ban for the same offence.

"That's being investigated and it is an allegation, so we'll look into that," Dillon said.

"I got asked about this a couple of weeks ago and it's not something that we want to be dealing with."

Collard's 2024 ban was issued while he was playing for VFL side Sandringham, then affiliated with the Saints.

It was among several cases of homophobic slurs that prompted an AFL crackdown.

Adelaide's Izak Rankine was banned for four AFL matches late in the 2025 season following an incident against Collingwood.

Rankine missed the Crows' finals series and returned from the suspension for their round-three loss to the Western Bulldogs last week.

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