‘Embarrassing failure’ in AFL judiciary as Nick Holman escapes after controversial tackle

The AFL is under fire after the controversial ruling that would have “burned down the internet” was thrown out with contempt.

Nick Holman of the Suns tackles Mitch Duncan. Getty.

The AFL tribunal has thrown out the controversial suspension handed to Gold Coast’s Nick Holman on a night of divisive verdicts.

Holman is free to play this weekend after the judiciary panel overturned the two-match ban handed down by match review officer Michael Christian for a tackle that left Geelong star Mitch Duncan concussed during Geelong’s win over the Suns.

The MRO’s grading of the textbook tackle led to an avalanche of outrage from fans — and the tribunal heard the outcry by ruling Holman’s tackle was within the rules of the game.

Christian had ruled Holman’s contact was a dangerous tackle – grading it careless conduct, high impact and high contact.

Holman received a free kick for holding the ball when he tackled Duncan, but the momentum of the two players resulted in Duncan’s head striking the ground.

Richmond’s Jack Riewoldt had earlier summed up the madness.

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Nick Holman of the Suns tackles Mitch Duncan.

“Accidents happen. The internet could burn down if (Holman) doesn’t get off,” Riewoldt told Fox Footy’s AFL 360.

“He cannot get done for that. You do the pub test and he doesn’t come out of any pub in Australia thinking he gets two weeks.”

The Herald Sun’s Jon Ralph tweeted the after the verdict: “Sanity prevails”.

An embarrassing failure for the @AFL, Michael Christian, Steve Hocking & Jeff Gleeson but a collective sigh of relief from players & clubs I’m sure
This should never have made it past the 1st review & is a massive slap in the face by the AFL to the umpires of that game

— Paul Brown 🐂🐑🦐🌾🐐🍻🍇🥑🥭 (@Paul_Brown1) May 25, 2021

The tribunal needed only 25 minutes of deliberation before announcing Holman was free to play this weekend.

“They (the jury) do not consider that there was a second motion and their view is that the momentum of the two players is what caused the consequences of the tackle,” tribunal chairman Ross Howie said.

“They consider that the player acted as a reasonable player in the circumstances … and find that he was not careless.”

Carlton considers appeal after suspension upheld

Carlton will be without defender Lachie Plowman for the next two weeks after the tribunal upheld his charge for a late bump on Hawthorn star Jaeger O’Meara.

The Blues had argued Plowman’s contact with the Hawk was within the rules of the game as he rushed in during a marking contest.

The Hawks then appeared to contradict their own argument when it was admitted that Plowman was attempting to spoil O’Meara when he made contact without O’Meara being aware of his presence.

Jaeger O'Meara of the Hawks is attended to by trainers after a collision with Lachie Plowman.

O’Meara was left dazed by the contact.

The match review panel had classified the incident as careless conduct, high impact and high contact.

“He was aware of the presence of player O’Meara while O’Meara was not aware of Plowman,” Tribunal chairman Ross Howie said.

“They find that Plowman had effected a bump and was guilty of a charge of rough conduct.”

AFL 360 co-host Mark Robinson said Tuesday it was the right decision.

“For the good of the game we have to eradicate these situations,” he said.

“People are going to hate this, but we’ve got to the stage now with the concussion injuries and the suffering of players that we’ve got to change the way the game is played, and that means we’ve got to change the behaviours.”

Carlton said in a statement it would review its options before making a decision about appealing the verdict.

Originally published as ‘Embarrassing failure’ in AFL judiciary as Nick Holman escapes after controversial tackle