Anderson said Dimattina had been suspended from his duties as Essendon's runner for the next two weeks in Rounds Nine and 10, as this was the fourth offence involving an Essendon runner since 2003. No replacement runner will be permitted during his suspension.
Under AFL regulations, the runner is allowed to enter the field 'for the sole purpose of conferring briefly with the players of his club (and) .. must then immediately leave the playing surface'.
Dimattina was ruled to twice be in breach of the AFL regulations - when he motioned to block West Coast player Adam Selwood and also when he grabbed West Coast player Dean Cox's jumper during the half-time break.
'Interfering with Play' and 'Contact with Players' are both specifically covered in the guidelines to Runners that are distributed before each season.
""A runner's role is to deliver the coaches' messages and get off the ground as soon as possible. Runners are not permitted to interfere with play or opposition players and certainly must not have contact with any opposition player at any time,"" Anderson said.
