AFL Hunter Central Coast: Tribunal to hear evidence after Black Diamond Cup clubs Warners Bay, Singleton cite players from season opener

Warners Bay initially cited an opponent for "misconduct" on Monday and Singleton have since returned serve with a "striking" charge.

AFL Hunter Central Coast community football manager Sam Zikman said he couldn't confirm the players involved or discuss the details of the alledged incidents.

However, the Newcastle Herald understands it was Singleton's Kurtis Olsen and Warners Bay's Jake Roach. The Newcastle Herald also understands the original allegation from Warners Bay relates to spitting. This occured soon after Singleton's claim took place.

Zikman said there are "conflicting accounts" about what unfolded.

Olsen and Roach did stand toe-to-toe and held each other's jerseys during the second quarter after coming into contact during play.

Both players were then asked to leave the field because of the 'blood rule'. No action was taken at the time by the umpires, who didn't submit a report after the game.

"We ended up receiving two citings, one each way," Zikman said on Wednesday.

"We've been working through those today. It's pretty complex and there are quite a lot of conflicting statements so the league has made the decision to send both directly to tribunal.

"We've locked it in for tomorrow night which means I can't comment too much on each of the incidents because it is going to tribunal.

"The citing that initially came in was a misconduct citing, but I can't allude to what element or what area of misconduct. The second one that came in back the other way was for striking."

Earlier this week Warners Bay president Elizabeth Brown said the club filed a complaint because they believed the state's code of conduct had been breached.

Singleton declined to comment about the incident.

The tribunal will be held via video link.

"This year's a bit different because of COVID-19. We're fortunate we can use the same technology they have for the AFL. We basically have a panel that can hold people in rooms online and you can bring advocates for players in and out," Zikman said.

Singleton, who defeated Warners Bay by eight points in round one, are away to Gosford this Saturday while the Bulldogs travel to Nelson Bay.

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