Lions accept two-week ban offered to Askevold-McDonald, investigation into Jayson Ford’s broken jaw starts

Royals forward Chandler Askevold-McDonald will miss the next fortnight after accepting a two-week suspension for a head-high bump in Saturday’s win over Mt Barker. The Great Southern Football League have confirmed there is an official investigation ongoing into a collision that left Lions star Jayson Ford with a broken jaw. Askevold-McDonald was yellow-carded for a bump on Mt Barker’s Kobi Williams in the final term at Sounness Park. He was placed on report by the umpires after the game for bumping or making forceful contact to an opponent front-on. Williams was helped from the field and was ruled out the rest of the game with concussion. Lions coach Andrew Ruck said after reviewing the vision of the incident, the club elected to accept the two-week penalty offered by the umpires. “We had the vision so we showed it around and while disappointing, there was head-high contact and we just didn’t think he would be able to get off,” Ruck said. Ford broke his jaw as a result of his collision with Bulls’ Darcy Wallinger in the second quarter. The Lions requested the GSFL investigate into the incident. The investigation started on Monday and GSFL president Terry Eaton said the process could take up to two weeks. “The process has been sent to an investigation because there’s nothing conclusive from the umpires,” he said. “The video footage depicts the incident but doesn’t really show where the contact’s made or how the contact is made. “It’s with the investigation officer and he has seven days to do that report. “If he needs, he can apply for an extra seven days to get it done on top of the first seven.” Pending sufficient evidence, the incident will either be referred to the tribunal or Wallinger will not be charged. Ford underwent surgery on Sunday and Ruck said the Lions matchwinner is likely to miss the rest of the season. “We’re not trying to gun after anyone but Fordy’s (Jayson Ford) got a broken jaw and it would be unfair with that footage to not just investigate and have a look at it for sure,” he said.