Downgrade means King will miss just one weekrichmondfc.com.au
By Matt Burgan and Luke Holmesby
6:57 PM Tue 16 March, 2010RICHMOND'S Jake King will now miss just the season opener against Carlton on March 25 after his striking charge against Collingwood's Travis Cloke was downgraded from intentional to reckless.
King's charge original drew him 270 points however that was slashed to 141.8 points following the tribunal hearing, which deemed he struck Cloke high but with low impact.
King will now miss just one match instead of the three he could have served if Tuesday night's challenge proved unsuccessful.
The 25-year-old was charged with striking Cloke during Richmond's 28-point NAB Challenge loss at Visy Park on March 5. King was not reported on the day and only limited video evidence was available for the charge.
Despite having his suspension cut, King was frustrated at missing one match, after the tribunal, headed by chairman David Jones and jury Emmett Dunne, David Pittman and Wayne Schimmelbusch, made its decision.
"I'd rather miss none, though," he said following the hearing.
Considering the potential outcome, Richmond football operations manager Ross Monaghan said the club was pleased with the result.
"It's always disappointing to come to the tribunal, but given the circumstances that surround matter, we're pleased with the outcome," Monaghan said.
"The outcome was what we asked the tribunal to consider and they found in our favour.
"It's disappointing for Jake to miss round one, certainly, but we think it was a really thorough process by the AFL and it's been really professionally handled and we certainly couldn't be critical of anything that's happened tonight."
During the hearing, King stressed he did not intentionally hurt Cloke.
"I did not throw a punch at Travis Cloke … my intentions were to get their hands off my face and up on my feet [off the ground]," he said.
Cloke also attended the hearing and although he acknowledged he "copped a bit of a clip to the eye", he didn't believe King's actions were intentional.
"I don't think anyone intends to hit anyone … [my] face with in the wrong place at the wrong time," the Magpie said
But emergency field umpire Damian Anderson, who made a brief appearance at the hearing before being excused, was adamant in his response.
"Cloke said: 'Did you see that?' King hit me," Anderson said.
The tribunal said it did not take into account King's previous reports, which included being suspended for the last two matches of 2009 for striking Collingwood's Alan Didak.
King has played 41 matches since debuting in 2007. He was originally drafted at No.24 in the 2007 NAB AFL Rookie Draft (held in December 2006).
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