Port Adelaide has reason to give new AFL judiciary its first test on Robbie Gray suspension

PORT Adelaide midfielder-forward Robbie Gray can argue to the AFL tribunal the merit of his bump without risk of an increased penalty.

Port Adelaide midfielder-forward Robbie Gray makes the bump on West Coast Jeremy McGovern that has landed him a one-game ban from the AFL match review judge, Michael Christian.

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ROBBIE Gray has nothing to lose by taking to the AFL tribunal the question that has long troubled his colleagues: When can an AFL player make a bump?

Gray runs no risk of an increased penalty if - as expected - the Port Adelaide midfielder-forward this morning challenges the one-match ban delivered by new match review panel judge Michael Christian for a bump on West Coast defender Jeremy McGovern.

Port Adelaide must pay a $10,000 fee to bring together the AFL tribunal for the first time this season. This cash bond is lost - and counted against the Power football department’s capped spending - only if the appeal to the tribunal is thrown out.

Gray cannot have his suspension increased in what looms as the much-needed test case on bumping. And the ban, from a pre-season game, does not make him ineligible for the Brownlow Medal this year.

Robbie Gray has nothing to lose by challenging his one-game ban. Picture: AAP Image/ Brenton Edwards

By contrast, the tribunal - if it sides with Gray - would deliver a massive blow to Christian by rejecting his first major ruling as the lone judge of reportable incidents.

Christian on Monday put Gray out of the Power’s AFL premiership-season opener - against Fremantle at Adelaide Oval on Saturday, March 24 - by ruling his bump on the Eagles’ defender was “careless” and of “medium” impact.

Christian again re-iterated - as have previous match review panels - that a player must face the consequences of his actions on the field. West Coast’s medical report emphasised McGovern was unable to return to the field after taking Gray’s bump to the head in the first term of the JLT Community Series match at Leederville Oval in Perth.

Christian explained his verdict at AFL House saying Gray had the option to contest the ball, but chose to overlook this to bump McGovern.

“His eyes moved from the ball to McGovern and if he was genuinely contesting the ball I’d like to see his hands down contesting the ball rather than shaping to bump,” Christian said.

“I think he had other alternatives, rather than shaping to bump and bumping … the option was there to genuinely contest the ball and he elected not to.

“When you elect to bump you must do it fairly, and if you make contact with the head in a careless manner then that is when there may well be a penalty forthcoming.”

But Christian’s so-called “line in the sand” can be washed away by the AFL tribunal - and put the new AFL lone judge of reportable incidents in a bind in his determination to deliver consistency in future judgments.

It now falls on Gray - and Port Adelaide - to test Christian’s view on bumps and to challenge the AFL tribunal to clearly declare what a player can and cannot do in a collision sport.

Christian also handed Port Adelaide All-Australian ruckman Patrick Ryder a $2000 fine for striking West Coast midfielder Andrew Gaff in the first quarter.

Melbourne club champion Clayton Oliver copped a $1500 fine for misconduct against North Melbourne rival Ben Jacobs in the first term at Hobart on Saturday.

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