In what is believed to be a first in Australian sport, an Australian Rules footballer was found guilty at a disciplinary hearing on Wednesday of smearing his blood on an opponent's face. John Darling was suspended for seven weeks for the offence, which he committed during a Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) reserves' game on October 18th this year.

NTFL general manager Greg Trappett said the sentence appeared to be light but there had been evidence Darling was concussed at the time.

"If he had been fully conscious at the time he did it I would have expected a much tougher sentence - between one and two years," Trappett said.

"I mean what he did was disgusting and it raised all sorts of questions because I don't think this sort of thing has happened in any code of football in Australia."

It certainly raises questions over Darling's state of mind. Why smear blood on an opponent's face except as a shocking way of intimidation?