ONE moment of madness at the end of his VFL season is set to cost Jed Walter much more than the one-game suspension he copped.
Walter will sit out of Gold Coast’s round one visit to West Coast next weekend, delaying his start to 2025.
For Walter, his sanction is already proving costly.
The 19-year-old was left out of the Suns’ AAMI Community Series loss to Sydney last Friday as the club looked at what it thought would be an Opening Round forward line to take on Essendon.
However, with that match postponed due to Tropical Cyclone Alfred, Walter’s ban for striking Frankston’s Sebastian Quirk in a VFL Wildcard Round match last August will now be served against the Eagles.
Gold Coast then has a bye in round two, meaning the key forward won’t be available until round three when Gold Coast faces Melbourne at the MCG.
His only competitive football at that stage will have been during the three-way match simulation against Brisbane and Collingwood on February 20.
Dan Houston will serve the final match of his five-week ban for a brutal hit on Izak Rankine when his new club Collingwood faces Greater Western Sydney on Sunday.
The Giants can’t select Josh Fahey (four games), Jake Riccardi, Harvey Thomas, Toby McMullin or Joe Fonti (two games) after the quintet were banned by the AFL for their parts in an end-of-season function.
Melbourne’s small forward ace Kysaiah Pickett won’t be available for selection until the Demons face Geelong at GMHBA Stadium in round four following his three-game sanction for bumping Darcy Moore in the final match of 2024.
Richmond’s Noah Balta (four matches) and Sydney’s Caiden Cleary (two matches) are also paying the price for off-season misdemeanours.
Rounding out the sidelined players is untried Essendon big man Vigo Visentini, who has three games of his four-match suspension remaining for a high bump on Gold Coast’s Finlay Gray late in the VFL season.
