Approaching the halfway mark of the season, many are already of the opinion that Gary Ablett will claim his third Brownlow Medal.
Given his scintillating form, the only factors that will prevent the Suns captain from winning the AFL’s most esteemed honour are injury or suspension.
It was the latter that became a distinct possibility last weekend, after he elbowed Western Bulldogs tagger Liam Picken.
After the match review panel gave Ablett the all-clear, criticism has been levelled at the judiciary and Ablett on the basis of double standards. Comparisons were drawn to the recent Steve Johnson incident, which saw the Geelong superstar handed a one-week suspension for head-butting Fremantle tagger Ryan Crowley.
It’s well and good to compare two incidents as if they are identical, but these were apples and oranges.
Both were relatively low-impact and did no damage, but this is where the similarities end.
Given the high number and frequency of head-high incidents going before the match review panel, it is clear the AFL takes a tough stance on any form of head-high contact. Jack Viney having to appeal a suspension for accidentally breaking the jaw of Adelaide’s Tom Lynch in a contest he could not avoid is testament to that.
Johnson stupidly tried to mask the head-butt on Crowley and the fact he acted with intent compounded the situation.
In contrast, Ablett’s action was no less savage than the common jumper-punch seen regularly in most matches. As stated by Picken himself, the elbow hit him in the chest and avoided any head-high contact, nor did he sustain no type of injury as a result. Had Ablett made clear contact to the head it would have been a different outcome, regardless of injury and the force applied.
The other factor forgotten in all of this is the stark contrast in suspension records of both Johnson and Ablett.
Johnson is been seen an on-field villain. In the past two years he has been suspended for five games, and it is this poor-record combined with carry-over points that was his eventual undoing. The Crowley incident drew 125 demerit points, but his poor record saw it increase by 30 per cent, with another 71.78 carry-over demerit points added, bringing it to 234.28. The total was reduced by 25 per cent to 175.31 for his early guilty plea.
If Johnson did not have the poor record or carry-over points, he could have missed and time out, with an early guilty plea reducing the 125 points to 93.75. Instead, he could only reduce a two-game ban to one.
Compare that to Ablett, who in his illustrious 12-year career has never been suspended. The only indiscretion he has been cited for is a rough conduct charge in Round 10, 2006 – which he was cleared of.
In this case, Ablett had nothing to answer for, and all evidence provided by Picken supports that. To anyone who believes there is some grand conspiracy behind it all needs to deal in facts and evidence, as these are what clear Ablett.
adam
Guest
Good article but I'm pretty sure most people have moved on from this issue.... A tad late
swanny
Guest
Completely different to Judd in 2010. Judd's incident on Pav should have been suspended, and if it was anyone else he would have been. Gary on the other hand simply did what so many others do as well and that is a simple jumper punch. In fact Ryan Crowley would do it plenty of times each match.
lest we forget
Guest
Its only by good luck that he didn't hit picken higher, his intent was still the same. Picken should also have been cited for the "slap" he dished out. I also thought that the tribunal no longer took evidence from the victim due to the statements that they would give generally to assist getting the person off. Picken's comments should have no bearing on what took place. Seems to me thay Jnr is a protected species aka Goodes and Judd. Irrespective how good a playerr he is and I clearly acknowledge that he is one of the best that I have seen he demonstrsted another side to his game during that game ie complaining about the way thay he was being treated. It was interesti g to see how his pleas were answered in the second half by the umpires
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
Sidebottom is also most likely going to get 3 games for his reckless action last night. He might get that brought down to 2 games with a guily plea and good record, but this was just ridiculous what he did in the first 10 seconds of a watch. WTF was he thinking?
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
Did he hurt anyone? Well define hurt for us? He left the ground and made contact with what looked like moderate force to Selwoods chest. After the incident Selwood look daezed and shrugged off an apology from Goodes, which tends to suggest he was not that happy about it. Selwood is probably the toughest player in the league so for him to be dazed tends to suggest he was some what hurt from it, acutely anyway, which most likely wont show up on any medical report. Selwood is not the type of player to go out of his way to give evidence against Goodes either. However, despite this I'm predicting a 2 match suspension for Goodes, which would normally be brought back down to one game on good behaviour. Goodes has a bad record of being reckless and this is just another example of it.
Axle an the guru
Guest
Did he hurt anyone rossco? Was there any blood involved? If your answer is no and no then probly no. I didnt see it so i carnt comment on it.
rossco
Guest
Will Goodes get cited for his high contact v Geelong?
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
I'm pretty sure we had this exact discussion in another thread last week. Give it a rest. Nothing to see here - move along please.
mike
Guest
A large number of players with names not ending with Ablett, Goodes or Judd have been given weeks for doing far less. If Ablett wins this years Brownlow, it will have an asterisk next to it (as Judds 2010 does).