AFL news 2023: Carlton reduce Martin’s ban to one week for high hit on Blakey

Should Carlton make a preliminary final, Jack Martin will be free to play after the Blues successfully reduced his two-match ban to one while taking aim at the MRO in the process.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 08: Jack Martin of the Blues in action during the 2023 AFL First Elimination Final match between the Carlton Blues and the Sydney Swans at Melbourne Cricket Ground on September 08, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Carlton took aim at Match Review Officer Michael Christian as it successfully halved Jack Martin’s two-match suspension to ensure he would return in next week’s preliminary final should the Blues eliminate Melbourne on Friday night.

Martin pleaded guilty to striking Sydney’s Nick Blakey but the Blues had Christian’s high impact charge downgraded to medium in what marked another tribunal victory for their legal mastermind Peter O’Farrell.

Tribunal chairman Jeff Gleeson delivered the verdict at 10pm on Tuesday night after back-to-back hearings that lasted six hours.

While O’Farrell cited eight examples in his submission he called out Christian for his inconsistency in grading charges from week one of the finals.

Melbourne accepted Jacob van Rooyen’s one-match suspension for striking Collingwood’s Dan McStay and O’Farrell was bewildered that van Rooyen’s incident was graded as medium impact when Martin was graded high impact.

“It’s not possible to understand why when you look at the same footage,” O’Farrell said.

Like McStay, Blakey returned to the field after passing a concussion test.

Nick Blakey after being whacked by Jack Martin. Picture: Phil Hillyard

The Blues noted Blakey had 476m gained and went on to be one of the best players in the elimination final after the early strike from Martin during the first quarter.

O’Farrell has also had Adam Cerra and Harry McKay cleared this year while last year he overturned Patrick Cripps’ suspension on appeal in an outcome that ultimately delivered the captain a Brownlow Medal.

The AFL argued that Christian got it right because van Rooyen’s incident had a “more significant potential to cause injury”.

But tribunal chairman Jeff Gleeson said it was clearly medium impact in what was a double loss for the AFL after Brayden Maynard was cleared earlier.

Gleeson said van Rooyen’s charge was of “some relevance” to Martin’s verdict.

“We are not sufficiently satisfied that a blow to an oncoming player with an elbow in the circumstances in which it was delivered by van Rooyen has significantly less potential to cause concussion or facial injury than existed here (Martin),” Gleeson said.

Martin will now be free to take on Brisbane Lions at the Gabba should the Blues progress to what would be their first preliminary final since 2000.

Originally published as AFL news 2023: Carlton reduce Martin’s ban to one week for high hit on Blakey