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Joel Selwood black carded as Australia win International Rules series

AFL

Geelong skipper Joel Selwood is facing a possible AFL suspension after being black carded during Australia's 53-50 win over Ireland in Saturday night's International Rules clash in Perth.

Australia trailed by 16 points early in the third quarter, but goals to Eddie Betts and Dayne Zorko in the last 61 seconds of the match lifted the home side to the 0.15.8 (53) to 2.10.8 (50) win in front of 30,116 fans.

The 2-0 series win means Australia regains the Cormac McAnallen Trophy.

But the biggest talking point to come out of the match was the incident involving Selwood. The Geelong midfielder was black carded just before halftime after cleaning up Chris Barrett with a late and high bump after the Ireland star had disposed of the ball. Barrett lay dazed on the ground as his teammates remonstrated with Selwood.

The black card meant Selwood was rubbed out for the remainder of the match, but Australia could replace him on the field with another player. The heavy hit lit the fuse, and an all-in push-and-shove erupted at half-ime as tempers threatened to boil over.

If Selwood is suspended for the high hit, it would rub him out of the start of Geelong's home-and-away season.

Last week's 63-53 win in Adelaide meant Australia could afford to lose by nine points or less in Perth and still win back the trophy. But that buffer was snuffed out within eight minutes as Ireland stunned the home side with two goals.

Australia goalkeeper Brendon Goddard was caught out in a one-on-one situation on both occasions, giving him little chance of keeping out the low shots of Chris Barrett and Gary Brennan. Goddard rebounded from the early setbacks to pull off two important saves later in the match.

Ireland led 33-17 after opening the third quarter with a goal.

But from there Australia hit back hard, with the thrilling finish proving to be a fitting finale to Subiaco Oval, which was hosting its last major sporting event.

Nat Fyfe was named Australia's best player of the series, while Conor McManus was named Ireland's best player.

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