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Brodie Grundy laid the perfect tackle, was awarded a free kick and will likely be suspended for it.
That’s the odd reality facing the Collingwood ruckman after North Melbourne’s Ben Brown was concussed in the second quarter of the Pies’ 16.15 (111) to 7.15 (57) win on Saturday night.
Brown was sent to hospital for observation after his head hit the Etihad Stadium turf in a tackle that will draw comparisons to the one that led to Geelong superstar Patrick Dangerfield being suspended.
“It was a perfect tackle … I don’t think there was any malice in the tackle,” Pies coach Nathan Buckley told reporters after the match.
“He was tackling to dispossess, tackling to get the free kick the way that the rules are written.
“What more do you do?
“(But) we understand the lay of the land and the way that (match review panel) precedent has gone in recent weeks.
“There’s a massive grey area there and we’re all swimming in it at the minute.”
Further complicating the issue, Adam Treloar also hit his head on the turf in a Jack Ziebell tackle – that was deemed dangerous by the umpire – but the Pies star was able to continue the game.
The actions of Grundy and Ziebell in those instances were not dissimilar but the outcomes were.
On the back of the hotly debated Dangerfield suspension, what constitutes a fair tackle in the AFL will be thrust back into the spotlight this week.
North coach Brad Scott disagreed with Buckley’s assessment of the tackle, in which both Brown’s arms were pinned to his sides, but agreed Grundy’s intention was not to hurt his player.
“I don’t think there was anything malicious in it … it’s just unfortunate that accidents happen,” he said.
“We’ve got to try to make sure that we make the game as safe as possible while still understanding that’s it’s a really competitive, combative sport.”
Grundy spoke to the Seven Network after the game to give his take.
“There was no malicious intent, that’s not the player that I am,” Grundy said.
“I felt pretty shaken up after it happened. I was pretty happy they stopped play because I didn’t know what to do. It’s terrible that he’s gone to hospital so I’ll definitely reach out to him
“I feel terrible about it.”
Brown was second in the Coleman Medal race heading into round 20 with 51 goals.
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