I don’t care what week of the year it is. I don’t care that it will cost him a grand final. Trent Cotchin must be banned for his collision with Dylan Shiel.
Cotchin’s decision to brace for impact with his shoulder makes it clear that his intention was to bump Dylan Shiel away from the contest rather than go directly for the ball.
That kind of action isn’t illegal in the AFL necessarily, but you do have a duty of care when you do so to not strike your opponent in the head.
Cotchin failed that duty of care. And while some would say that it is a minor incident and one that’s bound to happen in a contact sport, the AFL’s laws don’t see it this way.
The head has been sacred for a while now. We know what concussions can do to the human brain and it isn’t pretty, and it isn’t acceptable for them to be brushed off as no big deal.
Make no mistake, if this incident had occurred inside a home-and-away match it would certainly be cause for a one-week suspension, or at the very least a fine.
And a fine would do just fine for suspending Cotchin in this case, as he has already been given two this year and a third strike triggers an automatic one-week ban.
Is that fair? It’s a pretty rough call, but if Cotchin doesn’t want to miss games then he has to not put himself in this position to begin with, simple as that.
The AFL has to juggle many priorities as it attempts to manage the game and looks to achieve the best outcomes across the board.
But No.1 on that list of priorities has to be the same as it ought to be in any other business – the health and safety of its employees.
To let Cotchin play next week would be a violation of that principle, saying that other aspects of the game are more important than whether or not Dylan Shiel is able to think straight in twenty years time.
Do the right thing, AFL.
Leonard
Guest
Isn't this the bigger issue? That 50,000 members of the 120,000 combined memberships of the two competing clubs are locked out of their One Day of the Year? That 50,000 tickets go to corporates, freeloaders and flunkies? That - FFS!!!!! - today's Herald Sun had bottom-of-the-page banner ads for "WIN GF TICKETS NOW!!!" (This in the paper which calls itself 'Your footy paper'.) Instead of 'Look-at-me' moral grandstanding to us bogans, 'burbanites and nonPC bunnies, what say CEO McLachlan lets genuine committed barrackers and members into 'their' MCG for 'their' Grand Final? Hey, Mr CEO, it's 'POPULO LUDUS POPULI' - can't you be bothered googling that? And at least and AT LAST, one journo, the Herald Sun's Peter Rolfe, had the guts to write - in his opening sentence - "Richmond fans . . . faced the prospect of being locked out of Saturday's MCG blockbuster" (Insult to the True, 26/09). How about other footy journos find some spine and campaign to end this injustice? No number of laws and regulations passed by publicity-seeking pollies will make any difference while the only true market for GF tickets is treated with contempt. How about all of us tell the AFL's advertisers that we will boycott their goods and services until McLachlan and his gang fix this up? (No wonder people like him and Demetriou did not dare to show their faces on GF Day!!!)
J.T. Delacroix
Guest
He speaks highly of you, Wally. Very apt name by the way.
Helen
Guest
I which Richmond all the best on Saturday and Trent Cotchin should not be banned I have seen a lot worse that have not even been sent to the committee ie Tex Walker slamming Johassan into the goal post blatant I am a Western Bulldogs supporter so understand how the Richmond supporters are feeling all the best A great year AFL but please keep out of politics that is not your forte' and it is the individuals right to vote how they believe.
Wally
Guest
Cotchin is a coward. Always has been. Look at the other hits he's done over the years.
Wally
Guest
Well said Olivia. Give up the AFL bias. Be a sheep no longer!
Wally
Guest
Another AFL fix!! AFL determined last year's GF with the most popular result - Bulldogs! Sydney were BBQ'd by the umpires. This year - put all of your money on Richmond. AFL has already determined the result... AFL has become a sport for only the most gullible to believe in. Just like leading sheep to the slaughter & fleecing them on the way!! Footy has just lost another long time fan (45 years) and member. Baaah no more...
gattsy
Guest
"But, in individual cases, like this one, we have to decide whether Shiel was right to consider the rule protected him from head contact." This is a good point. If you notice Shiel bends down to pick up the ball but the ball bounces away. When the ball bounces away he follows it in a crouched position, leading with his head, into a contested situation with another player (Cotchin). I'm satisfied that MRP made the right dcision in this case. What I'm not 100% sure of, is if situation happened in a highly congested situation like happens regularly when the ball is and 25 plus players are inside the 50 m arc, would be the right decision? In such case Shiel could easily face competition for the ball from multiple directions In such a case it may be unreasonable to expect Shiel to move his body to protect himself from Cotchin and potentially expose himself to a player throwing himself at the ball with greater spped from a different direction. Maybe in this situation a Cotchin type approach that contacts a players head should attract a suspension. But by the same token we obviously don't want to encourage players to run around in a crouched postion trying to get a free kick (which I most definitely don't think Shiel was trying to but there are most definitely afl players who would and put themself at risk of injury just to get a free kick in a critical situation).
Bunney
Roar Rookie
Guess the rules mean nothing...
Sean
Guest
AFL equalisation policy seems to apply to Match review panel decisions as well... Had enough of this mickey mouse organisation.
schaefer
Guest
Well done Olivia! Of all the thousands of words that have been and will be written, this sums it up for most people in a nutshell..
Olivia Watts
Roar Guru
Does Cotchin, in the eyes of an average, unbiased supporter, deserve to miss a GF for this act? Of course not. Does Cotchin, under the rules in place for the MRP to use, deserve to miss a GF for this act? Yes; they have no other choice they can make if they are to be consistent under their rules. Will Cotchin miss the GF? Who knows? I gave up expecting logic and consistency from the AFL decades ago.
zubrick
Guest
yep totally right there bill cotchin got a bit excited and illegally assaulted an opponent gone for all money....pity hes a fine player and the tigers will miss him this action has cost the tiges the chance of a premiership in 2017 id think...hope dylan shiel comes thru this ok
Bolly Woods
Guest
A peanut article and a storm in a teacup, much ado about nothing, stop doing the funky chicken in boogie wonderland...its horses for courses and make hay while the sunshines..too much puff pastry and not enough gravy sauce...lets party like its 1999...bad boy bent trent will be mighty fine!
jacques of Lilydale
Guest
Play it in real time to get the incident in its true context at the time. All these super slo mos would get Mother Teresa in trouble. To me, he was going for the ball and it's a natural instinct to protect yourself in the milliseconds it takes. Umpires didn't deem it worthy even of a free kick at the time. For god's sake play on and don't sanitise the game.
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
Going for the tackle would have been even better, harder footy though.
Bill Larkin
Guest
The MRP would let Jack the Ripper off if he had a Grand Final to play the next week.
Bill Larkin
Guest
TC123 did Cotchin dip his shoulder and tuck in his elbow or not? That's the only issue to be decided. Only the blind or hopelessly one-eyed see Cotchin has no case to answer.
Bill Larkin
Guest
Rationality goes out the window when it comes to Richmond and finals. Cotchin sealed his fate when he dropped his shoulder and tucked in his elbow. He hit Shiel in the head. In any fair and reasonable system he must go. But, rationality goes out the window.......
Kane
Guest
I just seen the Astbury hit on Shiel and there was no contact to the head from the angle that i seen so Astbury can't be blamed for the concussion so unfortunately Cotchin has to get done for it. Plain and simple if the MRP use the laws of the game (which in my opinion is pretty ordinary but it's what they've used all year). Cotchin shouldn't have done those stupid unnecessary little love taps earlier on in the year. If he gets suspended then this might be just the thing that will stamp out the little gut punches that are a blight on our game.
Swannies
Guest
Cotchin should be allowed to play. We don't want another Murphy scenario when they are handing out the Richmond premiership medallions.