Adelaide’s quarantine-breaking 16 avoid suspension, but assistant coach Ben Hart stood down
Adelaide has been fortunate to come away with a slap on the wrist for its training-camp isolation debacle, with footy legend Garry Lyon believing the Crows should have been stripped of draft picks for putting the season in jeopardy.
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Former Melbourne captain Garry Lyon says the AFL should have stripped draft picks from Adelaide for its players putting a restart to the season in jeopardy.
The AFL has accepted Adelaide’s explanation it did not willingly try to flout the system after assistant coach Ben Hart copped the brunt of the league’s wrath for a social distancing breach.
The AFL has handed 16 players one-match suspended sentences, with assistant coach Hart suspended for six weeks and told not to be in any contact with players until June 22.
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Two senior players Kyle Hartigan and Tom Doedee were among the group of 16 players who broke into two groups of eight to complete eight minutes of team drills after a two hour session.
But while rivals believe Adelaide was on the camp to gain a competitive advantage, the Crows are adamant they had the approval from the AFL, state health authorities and the police.
Lyon said on Fox Footy Live he was sceptical that the players had committed an innocent mistake and said the AFL should have cracked down.
“They should have looked at a draft pick. That’s what they should have done for contravening a rule that put the competition in doubt,” he said.
“They put the restart in doubt, it’s the very thing they went cap in hand to the government for in the last two weeks to say we are great citizens and you can trust our players.
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“You know what, 95 per cent of players have done it except for these knuckleheads who have put the restart back.
“It’s incumbent upon the players to understand the rules they are governed by. It’s your responsibility as a player. It’s not an obscure rule, it’s been the front page of the paper and leading the news for four days.”
The suspended sentences will expire at the end of the 2020 premiership season but Adelaide was not fined or handed any draft pick sanctions by the AFL.
The AFL has made clear if the players were involved in a secondary infraction they would be suspended for the season and the suspended sentence added on top.
Despite the slap on the wrist, the AFL Commission says future penalties could involve deregistration for AFL players for social distancing breaches.
Adelaide believes it gave express written and verbal instructions to players and Hart not to train in groups of more than two players and had been extremely clear about that advice.
But as the AFL found, Hart accepted his “instruction was not in line with either the rules or the club’s instructions”.
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Apart from Hartigan and Doedee the players were William Hamill, Ayce Taylor, Lachlan Sholl, Jordon Butts, Lachlan Gollant, Ronin O’Connor, Ben Keays, Fischer McAsey, Josh Worrell, Billy Frampton, Elliott Himmelberg, Myles Poholke and Lachlan Murphy.
Adelaide believes its past misdemeanors are being used against it to paint a picture of poor culture at the club and that it is Hart’s first mistake at the club.
But the AFL could not have been clearer to clubs not to do anything to push close to the boundaries over social distancing or to gain a competitive advantage over rivals.
Given the severity of the AFL’s warnings to AFL clubs in the days before the breach, it is effectively a slap on the wrist to the players and the club given no financial sanction.
Determined to be a community leader in the fight to reduce COVID-19 numbers, the AFL has warned clubs their players and officials face deregistration for blatant social distancing breaches.
AFL legal counsel Andrew Dillon said the league would issue further clarifications around social distancing rules in coming days.
“We all have a very clear responsibility to ensure we do everything we can to stop the spread of the virus. The protocols are clear and the actions in this matter, whilst not pre-planned, are a breach of them.”
“We take this matter extremely seriously. We will not compromise the health and well-being of the community, and remind everyone in the industry – players, coaches, officials and staff - that they have a responsibility to adhere to the rules for the safety of everyone in the community.”
Despite AFL figures mocking NRL stars Latrell Mitchell for self-distancing errors, the league’s own track record is appalling.
Those involved in self-distancing bans, fines or transgressions include Western Bulldogs Lachie Hunter, Bailey Smith and Billy Gowers, Geelong’s Mark Blicavs, North Melbourne’s Nick Larkey and Cam Zurhaar and Fremantle’s Luke Ryan, Michael Frederick and Jason Carter.
Former GWS Giants captain Callan Ward said the Crows had let the rest of the competition down.
“It is pretty silly if you ask me,” Ward said on Triple M.
“It is pretty easy to stick to the AFL guidelines the AFL has outlined and that is to train in twos.
“So it is a little annoying because we have been trying hard to train in twos.”
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Originally published as Adelaide’s quarantine-breaking 16 avoid suspension, but assistant coach Ben Hart stood down