Brisban coach Chris Fagan has revealed veteran pair Jack Gunston and Daniel Rich have made the brutal call to omit themselves from the Lions’ Friday night clash with Sydney.
The experience duo have faced criticism for their form in recent weeks, with Gunston going goalless across the Lions’ consecutive losses to Adelaide and Hawthorn, while Rich was subbed off against the Hawks with a shin issue.
Speaking on Thursday morning, Fagan said Gunston and Rich will be sidelined indefinitely, and put through a rigorous training program through coming weeks rather than play in the VFL.
“They’re not happy with the way that they’re playing at the moment,” Fagan said.
“They believe their form doesn’t warrant selection… there’s obviously the option to go back and play in the reserves, but at their age, I think the best thing we can do for them to give them the best chance to get back to playing their best is to give them a training block.
“For the next [few] weeks, that’s what they’ll be doing – building their bodies up, building their fitness up.
“I’m not sure how long they’ll be out for and when they’ll be ready to come back, but that’s the decision we’ve made.”
Gunston has managed only 11 goals in 11 games since crossing from Hawthorn as a free agent at the end of last season, going goalless in five matches and managing only 11 disposals combined across his past two matches.
Rich has endured a season interrupted by injury, and has been concerningly exposed by pacy opponents this year.
“He’s [Rich] played 275-odd games of footy, he’s 33 years of age, but he’s now getting taken advantage of because of his lack of speed,” AFL analyst David King said on Fox Footy’s AFL 360.
“Teams are setting up knowing exactly what luxuries it provides.
“Now you can live with this if you want, because the balance sheet of what he does offensively, you think OK, it may outweigh some of this stuff.
“But even when he’s there, when he’s right on his man, he’s done within three steps. He’s right there [regarding one play against Hawks youngster Connor MacDonald], you can’t get any closer than that – bang, bang, bang, [Macdonald is] gone.
“Offensively he’s been involved in 18 scores in seven weeks; he’s four intercepts a week. If you [referring to co-host Gerard Whateley] stand out there you could get two.
“That’s just not paying the bills. 75 per cent of his footy is uncontested.”
Despite the setback, Fagan isn’t prepared to put a line through either Rich or Gunston for the rest of the season, praising the pair as ‘champion footballers’ still well and truly competing for spots in the Lions’ best team.
“You want to give them a bit of time to get back to playing their best football, but they recognised it themselves this week,” he said.
“I’m very confident those boys will get back and play some good footy.”
(Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
Hawthorn captain James Sicily and Richmond’s Rhyan Mansell will appeal their respective three-match AFL suspensions over incidents that left opponents concussed.
Amid uproar over the league’s ongoing crackdown on dangerous tackles, rugged defender Sicily was banned for the tackle that knocked out Brisbane Lions midfielder Hugh McCluggage.
The match review officer’s initial grading of careless conduct, severe impact and high contact was upheld by the tribunal on Tuesday night.
Sicily argued his conduct wasn’t careless, claiming he’d targeted McCluggage’s hips and that he was following the league’s advice to try to have his opponent land on top of him to soften his fall.
Sicily said contact from Hawks teammate Tyler Brockman on McCluggage during the incident prevented the Lions midfielder from being able to brace himself with his free arm.
The tribunal did not accept Brockman’s involvement caused an otherwise safe tackle to be dangerous.
Former Hawthorn and Brisbane champion Luke Hodge led a chorus of past players in the media arguing the tribunal “got it wrong”.
“As soon as there’s a third person (Brockman) that comes into play in the tackle, you can’t throw the book at this,” Hodge told SEN on Wednesday.
“You look at (Nathan) Broad from Richmond, who did the big dump tackle and knocked a kid (Adelaide’s Patrick Parnell) out on the boundary line, he got four weeks and Sicily got three for this.
“It just doesn’t seem right in my mind.”
Late on Wednesday, both Hawthorn and Richmond confirmed they will appeal their players’ bans.
Mansell was charged with rough conduct over the high bump that concussed Fremantle’s James Aish.
It was graded as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact.
The Dockers fear Aish could miss more than one match after he was placed into concussion protocols following the incident.
Mansell pleaded not guilty at the tribunal on Tuesday night, arguing he thought he could win the ball.
He said if he kept running straight on, he would have opened up both himself and Aish up for injury.
“As a (past) player I feel for him because he did the right thing and because of the bounce of an oval ball, it made him hesitate,” Hodge said of Mansell.
“I’m sitting here going is three weeks fair for that? That’s probably a bit harsh in my books.”
Melbourne defender Christian Salem accepted a $3000 penalty for striking Collingwood’s Harvey Harrison.
On Tuesday, St Kilda forward Dan Butler successfully overturned a one-match ban for rough conduct on Sydney’s Nick Blakey.
Butler is free to play his former club Richmond on Saturday night.
(AAP)
Former great Matthew Lloyd believes the uncertainty over leadership positions from the AFL is contributing to league-wide confusion on a number of key football issues.
AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan remains in charge of the game despite announcing his impending resignation more than 12 months ago, with replacement Andrew Dillon confirmed in May but not expected to step into the top job until October. The league is also yet to replace Essendon coach Brad Scott as head of football, with the position having been vacant for eight months.
Speaking on Nine’s Footy Classified, Lloyd said the lack of leadership from AFL headquarters was telling, as the league and its clubs struggle to understand the shifting stance on a number of on-field incidents, chief among them the controversial dangerous tackle crackdown.
“Gillon McLachlan, it‘s gone on for too long. No one knows whether they’re coming or going. He’s got to go now,” he said.
“Andrew Dillon has to come in and be the boss… that’s the problem. We don’t have a leader.
“Brad Scott left eight months ago, Gillon McLachlan has been hanging in there for so long and this is why it has gotten to this point.”
Andrew Dillon. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Co-host and fellow former great Jimmy Bartel agreed, citing the need for the AFL to communicate better with clubs as to what they expect from players.
It has been reported that several clubs chose not to show vision sent from the AFL outlining how they expect players to tackle correctly amid the crackdown, believing suspensions to be a lottery.
“The reason why you have confusion is a lack of communication. Get out to the clubs, because you‘re there to serve the clubs,” Bartel said.
“I think we get that around the wrong way sometimes.
“If the head of footy or whatever that role is… visits the clubs, has regular conversations with footy managers and coaches, actually gets on the phone and says, ‘Hey, this is starting to creep in’ [it will help].”
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Thoughts, Crows fans?
Poor Luke had best get used to this!
A bit lucky for the Lion?
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