Robertson makes sorry excuse for Kelly tackle

AUSTRALIAN footballer Russell Robertson last night defended his horror tackle on Tom Kelly in the first test in Perth last week.

Robertson was dismissed for his frontal charge on the Laois man and was caught on the big screen laughing as he joined the Aussie inter-change players and team management on the sideline. But he said television footage of him laughing when sent off after the incident had been misconstrued.

“I don’t know about a cowardly bump (as referred to in the Irish media),” he said.

“They have to look at our game and understand that’s all just part and parcel ... I’ve been doing that since I was 10,” he told Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper.

“In the heat of the moment, I’ve done something I’m used to doing. I paid my penalty; I went and sat on the bench and didn’t get much of the ball unfortunately, and had to sit and watch.”

Robertson said Hawk great Robert Di Pierdomenico had caused his laughter.

“The big ‘Dip’ was getting into me a fair bit and I couldn’t help but laugh at him. I’m sorry if that looked like I was being a bit arrogant, but Dipper can be a funny man and the crowd was giving it to me too.”

Robertson said similar incidents had occurred in past series.

“We’ve seen (Mark) Ricciuto with a good hit, David Neitz had a good hit a couple of years ago, and, honestly, they would have said they didn’t deliberately do it, it was just part of what they were used to doing. I didn’t really cannon into him as hard as I possibly could; I wasn’t running or sprinting.

“I just stood my ground, and unfortunately for him his arms were up in the air and he was wide open. I’m sorry for the bloke; I didn’t mean to hurt him.”

Kelly, who expects to start tomorrow’s second test in Melbourne, accepted the apology.

“I saw him coming. I knew he would come in heavy, but didn’t expect him to run into me. The physio thinks I could have cracked ribs, but I’ll be all right,’’ he said.