GDFL 2023: Brent Jacques hit with lifetime ban for surpassing 16-weeks of suspension across career after failed appeal

A local star’s career is over after his latest indiscretion tipped him over AFL Victoria’s suspension threshold. Watch the incident here.

Thomson star Brent Jacques is facing a lifetime ban from playing and coaching after his AFL Barwon tribunal appeal failed.

Jacques hasn’t been able to keep himself out of trouble across his career, being suspended for a total of 17 matches, with his latest four-week ban for an unruly strike on Mitch Grozdanovski in the GDFL grand final upheld.

WATCH THE VIDEO IN THE PLAYER ABOVE

The GDFL and AFL Barwon confirmed this suspension will take him over the 16-week threshold, meaning he will be automatically deregistered by AFL Victoria, rendering him unable to play or coach as a consequence.

Jacques had been offered three weeks with a guilty plea for his hit on Grozdanovski in the third quarter of the grand final, but this would have left him on exactly 16-matches suspended.

This led Jacques to appeal his suspension in an attempt to reduce the sanction to two weeks, with the Thomson forward ultimately unsuccessful.

Under Football Victoria’s Deregistration policy: “Senior players shall be automatically de-registered and not allowed further registration with the same or another league if the player has repeatedly offended and accumulated a combined total of 16 weeks (or greater) in a senior career.”

Brent Jacques has been deregistered for his striking incident. Picture: Mark Wilson

The league reached out to Jacques after his previous indiscretion in July, which had put him within three matches of deregistration.

Vision shows Jacques collecting Grozdanovski with a forceful raised arm to the head in a marking contest on the wing in the third quarter of the grand final.

Grozdanovski was slow to get up but walked to the bench and off the ground.

It bring an end to Jacques’ impressive playing career, which was given a new life when he came out of retirement last year and crossed to the Tigers from Belmont Lions.

Jacques helped Thomson into a grand final with 52 goals in 16 matches, having won a premiership with Bannockburn in 2019 and previously playing for North Shore in the GFNL.

Originally published as GDFL 2023: Brent Jacques hit with lifetime ban for surpassing 16-weeks of suspension across career after failed appeal