Hawthorn young gun Will Day’s tribunal bid to overturn a two-game ban has been tossed out, with the AFL labelling his dumping tackle an “inherently dangerous action”.
Day will now miss games against GWS and Adelaide, despite arguing he was trying to roll Geelong’s Brad Close and take the force of his fall to the ground.
The ban is a blow for the Hawks, with 21-year-old Day averaging career-best numbers of 25 touches and five tackles per game this season.
Hawthorn argued the impact of the tackle should have been graded medium rather than high given Day’s momentum had taken his opponent to the ground rather than through applying extra force, saying there was “no active aggression”.
Tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson dismissed that argument in upholding the suspension.
“(The) player’s arms were pinned and the extent of force was considerable. We do not accept the impact came solely from the momentum of the players,” Gleeson said.
“Vision shows Day’s left arm applies additional downward force to Close, the result of driving his head into the ground more forcefully than would otherwise have been the case.”
Day acknowledged his duty of care to Close and said he’d specifically considered that when choosing to not bump him and getting low to protect his head.
He did admit he’d failed to protect Close’s head adequately but denied he’d used his left arm to drive his head into the ground.
AFL lawyer Sam Bird noted Day had pinned both of Close’s arms and tackled with a tipping and driving motion, the “inherently dangerous action” having the potential to cause serious injury.
The tribunal was played vision of Port Adelaide’s Ryan Burton from earlier this season, showing an incident where he slung Collingwood’s Jamie Elliott to the ground and received a two-game ban.
Hawthorn argued Burton’s tackle was “far, far worse” than Day’s, but both incidents were graded as high impact.
Earlier on Thursday, Geelong changed their mind about challenging Gary Rohan’s suspension for a sling tackle.
The Cats had indicated they would head to the AFL tribunal in an attempt to free the premiership player to face West Coast on Sunday, but then accepted the ban handed down by the match review officer.
Rohan found himself in hot water for a sling tackle on Hawthorn’s Changkuoth Jiath in their Easter Monday win, hit with a rough conduct charge despite the Hawk not being injured.
His tackle was graded as medium impact, careless conduct and high contact as Jiath’s head hit the turf.
Rohan was quiet in the Cats’ win, finishing with nine disposals and a goal.
AFL great Eddie Betts has once again come out forcefully against the latest incidents of racial abuse against Indigenous players.
Brisbane’s Charlie Cameron, Adelaide’s Izak Rankine and Fremantle’s Michael Walters and Nathan Wilson were all been abused online during the week, prompting league CEO Gillon McLachlan to vow to track down the perpetrators.
“The set of words I have, I am just sick of saying them,” McLachlan said.
“It has got no place in our game, it has got no place in our community – it’s frankly just a disgrace, it’s abhorrent.
“It causes so much hurt to our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, frankly I think it offends 99.99 per cent of all football followers, all Australians.
“I am out of words.
“We are taking the action we can. We work hard to track them down but we know they disappear.”
Speaking on AFL 360, Betts urged the AFL to make a stronger stance against racism.
“When I saw what happened over the weekend, it was hard to see, and my love goes out to those boys and their families,” he said.
“Enough’s enough. When are we going to see a stance? It’s going to keep happening. It felt like it was a targeted attack.”
Betts also urged the wider AFL community, including fans, to ‘do their part’ in eradicating racism from the game.
“They don’t like Aboriginal people standing up for what they believe in and trying to stamp out racism. It feels like they want to put us back down in our boxes where they think we belong,” Betts continued.
“Everyone else needs to do their part and continue to talk and continue to educate and continue to have those conversations.
“Look at [Adam Goodes]. He called out racism and it kept happening to him, and people were jumping on board even thought they didn’t know what was going.
“It is disappointing to see. We just have to continue to keep educating.
“We’re seeing change, but it’s always going to happen.”
Richmond star Shai Bolton has issued a public plea for the return of his premiership medals, which were stolen from his Malvern home in December last year.
Bolton, who played in the Tigers’ 2019 and 2020 premiership teams, filed a report with Victorian police at the time, but has had no further information since.
According to Bolton, the medals were stolen on December 18 while he was away in Perth.
“It is very saddening to have items as cherished as my premiership medals taken this way,” Bolton said.
“If anyone has any information about where they could be or that could help towards them being returned, it would mean a lot to me and my family.”
Bolton has played 94 games and kicked 106 goals for the Tigers since making his debut in 2017, while also winning the 2021 Mark of the Year.
Shai Bolton of the Tigers fends off Jake Lloyd of the Swans. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)
Both tackles were graded careless conduct and high contact after the heads of Close and Jiath hit the turf.
Day and Rohan will front the tribunal on Thursday night.
Day’s efforts to have his incident’s high-impact rating downgraded could be helped by Close saying he was not hurt by the Hawthorn midfielder.
“I took my free kick and ran off and kicked it forward, so no dramas there,” Close told RSN on Tuesday.
All forms of head-high contact have been under the microscope this season against the backdrop of a growing focus on concussion in world sport.
The AFL is facing legal action from past players, who are seeking compensation over health issues they say stemmed from on-field concussions.
Richmond defender Nathan Broad was handed a four-match ban by the tribunal last month for his sling tackle on Adelaide’s Patrick Parnell, while Port Adelaide defender Ryan Burton accepted a two-match ban for his dump tackle on Collingwood’s Jamie Elliott.
Burton’s offence was graded at the same level as Day’s tackle on Close.
Meanwhile, Hawthorn big man Lloyd Meek has found an ally in Collingwood’s Mason Cox after he was fined $3000 for kneeing Geelong’s Mark Blicavs at a ruck contest.
Cats coach Chris Scott was furious, calling on the AFL to do more to stamp out the kneeing tactic, which he called “so dangerous” for players.
But Magpies ruck-forward Cox said on his podcast, The Mason Cox Show: “If you sit there and say we’re not allowed to put our knees up anymore, then what’s the point of the ruck contest? We might as well just have a ball up in the middle of (the ground).
“It’s jumping with your knee to protect yourself. That’s why (ruckmen) wear shin guards, because you know someone is going to be trying to literally injure you.
“You might break a rib. I’ve broken ribs … it’s part of being a ruckman.”
Geelong’s Rhys Stanley missed one match with a rib injury after he was kneed by Carlton’s Tom De Koning at a ruck contest in round two.
De Koning was offered a $3000 fine but challenged the ‘kneeing’ charge and had it dismissed by the tribunal.
(AAP)
AFL great Matthew Lloyd has issued a scathing attack on North Melbourne forward Tarryn Thomas after another off-field incident has forced the club into damage control.
Thomas, who was stood down by the Kangaroos in March following allegations of inappropriate behaviour against women, shared a social media post which appeared to show him driving dangerously.
Speaking on Nine’s Footy Classified, Lloyd described the 23-year old as ‘dangerous’ and ‘immature’.
“He’s an absolute drainer on the North Melbourne Football Club,” Lloyd said.
“I’ve seen it before with players: when you’ve got that many players and staff who are trying to turn that club around to try and be respected again and stand for something, and the amount of time and energy they’re wasting on Tarryn Thomas.
“They’ve already brought him back into the club once, then they had to let him go back out again, wanted to reintroduce him next week. Whether you’re sending that to one person or 10, it’s dangerous… immature.
“He’s losing more respect from the football world and more importantly his teammates, and he’s being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars while he’s not at the club.
“He’s just going to realise, whether it’s next week, next month or in a few years, that he wasted an amazing opportunity.”
In the aftermath of the recent video, Thomas was interviewed by Channel 7, where he said he was ‘desperate’ to resume his AFL career.
“I am very desperate to get back to the game I love and playing with my best friends. I can’t wait to get back,” he said.
“I am doing everything I can to get back and the club is helping me and directing me. There are a lot of people outside the club trying to get help and the club is doing an amazing job for me.”
© AAP
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