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The Cotchin decision was the right decision and we all know it

25th September, 2017
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Trent Cotchin of the Tigers celebrates a goal during the round 21 AFL match between the Geelong Cats and the Richmond Tigers at Simonds Stadium on August 12, 2017 in Geelong, Australia. (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)
Expert
25th September, 2017
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2083 Reads

Can we be honest for a moment? I mean, we’re in the realm of professional sport, so I know that’s a big ask, but let’s make the effort, just briefly, to give ourselves some straight talk.

We must acknowledge the truths we hold self-evident.

The greatest truth is this: the AFL grand final is not just another game.

You know that. I know that and – here is where deep secrets are finally brought out into the open – the match review panel knows it too.

Everyone in the AFL knows it, in fact, and when the question of whether a player will be suspended for the grand final arises, it is always going to be borne in mind. Once we accept this, we’ll all live happier lives.

Now, Trent Cotchin’s ‘bump’ on Dylan Shiel wouldn’t have warranted a suspension in the regular season, let alone in finals.

It’s absolutely vital to send the message that players need to strive to avoid contact with the head, but it’s also impossible to eliminate accidents entirely.

I find it difficult to tell a man he’s responsible for head-high contact even when he’s diving at knee level and his body is significantly lower than his opponent’s. It’s always possible, whether tackling, bumping or going for the ball, that a player might dip his head at precisely the wrong moment, and you’re not going to stamp that out without banning tackling, bumping and going for the ball.

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However! Many people will say Cotchin was culpable and fair enough, you may have your opinion.

But if you say that Cotchin deserved to miss a grand final for it…well I confess I have to consider you either a liar or a madman. Miss a grand final for that? Lose the opportunity your entire life has been directed towards achieving, for that? Think of all that a footballer goes through, all he sacrifices, for the chance to play in a grand final. Do you look at Cotchin colliding with Shiel and think, it is only right that that was all for nothing?

You do? Come on. Get your hand off it.

Trent Cotchin Richmond Tigers AFL Finals 2017

(Photo by Adam Trafford/AFL Media/Getty Images)

You can talk about high impact and carelessness and tucked elbows all you like, but you know the truth.

Sometimes players do deserve to miss grand finals. Barry Hall recently admitted he should’ve missed the 2005 decider. As a Sydney fan, as much as that week found me praying desperately that injustice would be served, he was right. He made the decision to punch a guy in the stomach about a hundred metres off the ball. That can’t be let slide – if nothing else, the sheer stupidity required to throw a punch in a preliminary final deserves our most stringent censure.

However, the tribunal let Barry off, and in doing so, it quite transparently sent the message: the grand final is different. Loud and clear they declared that a one-game suspension in the last week of September is not the same as a one-game suspension in mid-May. We all knew it, and though the AFL wouldn’t want to say it explicitly, the Barry Hall decision made it impossible to misinterpret.

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As Hall concedes, that was the wrong decision, but the basic principle was sound: a grand final suspension is not to be taken lightly.

Now, Trent Cotchin is no Barry Hall, and his decision to lunge into a contest is not Barry’s decision to whack a bloke in the guts off the ball. Maybe you’d give him a week if it was a home-and-away game…maybe. But one home-and-away game does not equal one grand final. We can all stop pretending that it does.

Saying that an act that merits a week in mid-year also merits a week at season’s end is as absurd as saying that there’s no difference between a one-week suspension and a six-week suspension. Mind you, most players would still rather miss six weeks than a grand final.

Bottom line: the match review panel made the right call, and I don’t care one bit about the technicalities. Nobody can in good faith argue that Trent Cotchin deserves to miss on Saturday for what he did. It would be a nobler and more honest world if everyone could admit it.

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