Brian Lake: Choking someone is never ok

4 weeks is a cowards penalty. Very lenient. He should be out for a season at least . If it wasn't for the intervention of Petrie's teammates, Lake could have killed him. Whether or not he was eye-gouged is irrelevant. There is no excuse for choking someone.

Hey Aus, Hawks up over Adelaide ( not a favourite team either! ) so as tough as ever, so good on them. Slight correction too before the gouge, Lake's right hand appears under the neck, while the left appears to be pressed down on the left side.

Curious to see if you opinion has changed once you watch the full incident ...

Cheers Gene! Much appreciated. Maybe I'm being a bit protective of my beloved Hawks here, but could they squeeze in a bit more sensationalism to that headline: Aussie Rules Football Player Nearly Chokes Opponent to Death... Pope, Gene - good luck for the weekend... I was hoping you guys would notch another loss this round, but I'm afraid that looks more likely to happen to the Hawks then you guys.

No Petrie shouldn't have even got so much as a reprimand. Everything he did was justified.

http://blacksportsonline.com/home/2014/07/aussie-rules-football-player-nearly-chokes-opponent-to-death-video/ has the missing footage of the sling tackle and than the forearm to the throat PRIOR to the gouge.

Hey Pope, that was what I was a bit concerned about, that the footage came in a bit late as well as another angle showing it differently. But that was the only footage I found and it seemed to correlate with some of the comments above. I do however think there was a degree of provocation from Petrie though, but ultimately Lake shouldn't have gotten so worked up over it. And by no means am I suggesting he's an angel. 1974! That wasn't a good year to become a Roos fan. That's as bad as becoming a Port fan in 2007

Hello Aus. Unfortunately the youtube vision only seems to swing back after the incident has started. There was channel 7 vision the night which filmed at ground level looking down the wing, which captured sling, followed by the forearm on his throat prior to the gouge. As for provocation you wouldn't want to call Lakey late for dinner. Big disclaimer. I've followed North since 1974 and hate Hawthorn over a couple of GF losses so on the rare occasions the roos knockover the old enemy it's a good day.

I hadn’t seen the incident so went to youtube. To me, I think the gouge happened before the choke, but I do question if it was an out and out choke. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiv4EEH79cA If you have a look at the clip from 24 secs, this looks like a full repay of the incident. To me it looks like during the initial scramble, BL's right arm is under DP's head and his left hand is on the ground or something, it's a bit obscured but it's certainly not on his throat but all the while DP seems to have his hand in BL's face. As Gene rightly points out BL had lost it by then and I think Petrie's more than entitled to be doing this to get Lake off him and if there’s a gouge in that then so be it (I think this is how the tribunal saw it). Also, if you notice the body position of them both, BL's chest looks to be over DP's head, so couldn't see. Its' then from 29 secs I think you can see BL go for the choke. My issue is that to me it seem BL has his hand closer to DP's collar bone area (where the AFL badge is on the gurns) than his throat, this is where I question it. If you notice, DP looks to be talking throughout (i.e. not gasping or in distress) and BL looks to lift his hand as well (i.e. is BL putting a lot of pressure in it?) and it doesn’t look like he’s got his hand around his throat. I am by no means saying definitively this is not a choke, just questioning if that's what it is? The commentary seems to think conclusively, but they're seeing it in real time and that's the way it comes across. As I said, this is the only way I’ve seen the incident. There are probably different camera angles out there, but from the clip that’s the way it appears. Slane, I totally agree with your final point, what Lake did was wrong and I think the intent was there so deserves the 4-weeks. Pope, I think there was a degree of provocation, he lost it with the way he lost possession and Petrie’s little shove at the boundary line, BL saw red and went for him a bit more fervently after the sling tackle especially after a bit of a gouge. Disclaimer: I’m a huge Hawks fan by the way, and personally I’m glad to see them get roughed up a bit. If we’re going to beat Geelong and Sydney we need to get used to not having everything our way and grind out a result.

I think disgruntled Hawks fans should ask Brian to recreate the act. If the fan can resist struggling as their breathing stops, they may have a case. It reminds me of the American military arguing that water boarding is not torture.

Ten years ago he would have been hammered half way across the ground. The game is getting softer by the week but that comes from the players not wanting to.play with the sort of injuries the Voss,Carey generation did. It looked to me like the Hawks just expected to turn up and blow Norths off the park

People say that a bit of 'theatrics' from Soccer players is enough to put them off the game for life.

was there for all to see... Petrie tried to push him away, and you see as oxygen was starved, that petrie's right arm flops down lifeless. ALSO note that the grub LAKE deliberately gets his own head/face within 20-30cm of petrie's face so that even if Petrie could punch Lake to dislodge his hold, petrie had no chance of exerting enough force/impact to do so..... Lake looks like a Pitbull terrier. That's why kangaroos players couldn't strip Lake from Petrie with an almighty tug. 4 weeks is fair but the look was despicable...... i don't care what happened before the choke..... the choke was the dog (pitbull) act

I don't know what he was trying to do. we will have to disagree on Petrie's reaction deserving punishment but Lakey had entered the land of the red mist before he grabbed Petrie. It also interesting that he didn't stop grabbing him around the neck even when the cavalry arrived. Not sure he was responsible for Hawks implosion either. Including the dopey 50 m penalty on the 50m line, North had taken possession, as in this scoring occasion, or were about to take possession when his team mates scragged or laid late tackles.

Lake deserved everything he got. Joanna, when you describe an eye gouge as "incidentally making clawing contact with [the] face" you do yourself no credit. However, the MRP may offer you a job.

Well in the photo you can see drew's finger digging in right where lake has cuts on his face, you can also see lake was way over the line by that point too.

You reckon he was just trying to physically intimidate Petrie/North then? It definitely backfired if so!

I'm not sure you can say precisely when the gouge happened because Petries hand was grabbibg at Lakes face the entire time they are laying down. The only time it stopped(for a split second) was when Lake moved his hand to Drews throat. Gene, have you ever kissed your wife in the dark? You aren't honestly saying you need to be able to see somebodys face in order to claw at it are you? I promise you that even in a pitch black room with a blind fold on you'd be able to tell where somebodies head is if they were laying on you ;-) What Brian Lake did was wrong but what Petie was doing was also wrong.

Nope. I think Lake should have got 6 weeks and Petrie 2. I even like the Roos beyltter than the Hawks. Much respect for a Pokie Machine free club.

although Brown was already lining up for goal from the kick from Petrie's handpass.