Deer Park off-season recruit Rodney Van Riet has been suspended by the Western Region Football League tribunal for 10 weeks.
Van Riet was involved in a behind- the-play incident with a Sunshine player during the club’s round-four senior division 1 clash on May 2.
Following the incident, in which the 20-year-old Sunshine player was knocked out, an ambulance was called, the player was taken to hospital and the game was abandoned.
Van Riet will not be eligible to be selected for Deer Park until the club’s round 16 clash against St Albans.
Sunshine president Craig Ryan said the condition of his player had improved a lot.
“He’s fine,” Ryan said. “He has been advised not to play for a few weeks, but he’s doing much better.
“When you see something like that, it can be very tough. When I was playing it would have had an effect on me, that’s for sure. A player injured like that, it is certainly something you don’t like to see.”
Ryan was full of praise for both the Sunshine and Deer Park medical staff working at the match.
“We are so thankful for the two trainers who were there on the day,” he said. “Both our trainer and the Deer Park trainer were fantastic.”
The Deer Park Football Club declined to comment on the penalty.
With the incident occurring in the first quarter, the match was declared a draw with each team taking two points. It is the first time Deer Park hasn’t won a home-and-away game since the 2013 season.
