Brodie Grundy set to come under MRP scrutiny after dangerous tackle on Ben Brown

UPDATE: A CHORUS of ex-AFL players want Brodie Grundy cleared by the MRP for his tackle on Ben Brown, believing there is a difference between his tackle and Patrick Dangerfield’s. HAVE YOUR SAY

Brodie Grundy tackles Ben Brown at Etihad Stadium.

A CHORUS of ex-AFL players have called for the Match Review Panel to clear Brodie Grundy for his tackle on Kangaroo Ben Brown.

Brown was knocked out and stretchered from the field after Grundy pinned both his arms, resulting in his head hitting the ground.

The forward was in possession of the footy and Grundy was awarded a free kick for holding the ball.

Ex-players, including Essendon great Matthew Lloyd and former Tiger and Bulldog Nathan Brown, want to see the Magpies ruckman cleared of any wrongdoing.

Hi all - quick update: Feeling good this morning! Thanks for all the kind messages of support.

— Ben Brown (@bdbrown50) August 6, 2017

Port Adelaide premiership player Kane Cornes believes there is a clear difference between Grundy’s tackle and the one that saw Patrick Dangerfield suspended last week.

“That is how the modern player is taught to tackle. Pin an arm, pin a lever and take to ground so the player can’t get involved in the next play,” Cornes said.

“He’s got the ball.

“Accidents do happen.

“I thought Dangerfield was done because there was a second motion where he drove (Matthew Krezuer) into the ground. That tackle there (Grundy’s) to me is the perfect tackle.”

Brown wants to see the MRP make a statement, believing it’s “unfair” on Grundy to suspend him for a “perfect” tackle.

“There should be a clear-cut rule that if you get awarded a free kick for a tackle holding the ball then there’s no way you can be suspended. I find it extraordinary that Grundy can get a free kick but then we’re talking about him being suspended,” he said on Channel 9.

“His tackle was perfect but only because he’s hit his head (he’s in trouble) is the outcome. I think that’s unfair on Brodie Grundy.

Brodie Grundy looks over a prone Ben Brown.

“The Match Review Panel need to make a statement. I think they’ll be criticised for being inconsistent again but make a statement (and not suspend Grundy).

“Does anyone here think Grundy should get a week?”

Dangerfield, St Kilda’s Koby Stevens, Docker Cam McCarthy and Kangaroo Jarrad Waite have all been suspended for dangerous tackles this year but Lloyd believes there is a difference between those tackles and Grundy’s.

And that difference should see him cleared.

It's everything the MRP disapproves of. Arms pinned, Brown in vulnerable position, double movement. Let's not peddle line it's a good tackle https://t.co/aAN0yRzgJD

— Jon Ralph (@RalphyHeraldSun) August 6, 2017

“I think the rule needs to be concrete,” Lloyd said.

“Brodie Grundy didn’t sling - he pinned the arms and he just fell forward.

“I think the thing that’s in his favour, other players were dumping (players in tackles) ... they were dump tackles.”

Collingwood premiership captain Nick Maxwell says Grundy’s intent was to stop Brown from disposing of the ball and not to hurt the Kangaroos spearhead.

MRP has to realise tackles will be laid. Unfortunately, concussions can occur.
Again, outcome will define the sanction.
Judge technique

— Jude Bolton (@Jude_Bolton) August 6, 2017

“It has to try and come down to their intent because sometimes that tackle will happen 20 times and once someone will get knocked out, the other 19 times could be exactly the same and they don’t get knocked out,” Maxwell said on Channel 7.

“You can’t ask a player to make that decision in half a second, he’s just trying to lay the tackle, if his intent is to pick him up and smash him into the ground, you can clearly see that.

“His intent there wasn’t to grab him and smash him into the ground. I think we’re making it so hard for the players to try and come up with a decision in that half a second.”

Brodie Grundy tackles Ben Brown.

Brodie Grundy tackles Ben Brown.

VFL/AFL games record holder and North Melbourne great Brent Harvey said he felt sorry for the Collingwood ruckman.

“Grundy did everything we’ve practised as tacklers as juniors and right through to senior footy,” he said on Fox Sports News.

“I think nine out of 10 people will say that is the perfect tackle and one says you’ve got to protect the head.”

But AFL legend Leigh Matthews said the Grundy tackle is no different to what Dangerfield did last week.

Dangerfield accepted a one-match ban for driving Kreuzer into the turf, resulting in the Carlton big man suffering a “mild concussion”.

“The fact is, if Dangerfield gets a week Grundy has to get a week, it’s the same. Pin the arms, head hit the ground, that’s it and I agree with that to be honest,” Matthews said.

A stationary Brown was poised to handball 20 minutes into the second quarter of Saturday night’s clash at Etihad Stadium when he was wrapped up from behind by an alert Grundy.

Grundy, like Dangerfield, is a ball-player without a dirty streak. Unfortunately for both men, this is irrelevant.

Grundy spoke to Channel 7 after the game and felt gutted in the aftermath.

“That’s tough to look at. That’s the first time I have seen it back, coming straight out of the rooms,” he said.

“I suppose the thing for him is he had the footy and probably just didn’t see me coming and like I said, there was no malicious intent in that and yeah, for me I’m a bit of a lover and I feel, terrible — I feel terrible about it.

“There was no malicious intent. I felt pretty shaken up after it happened. And I was pretty happy that they stopped the play because I sort of didn’t really know what to do and it is terrible that he’s gone to hospital.

“I will definitely reach out to him tonight.”

The Pies’ ruckman had a vice-like grip on Brown’s two forearms and turned him into the ground where his head was slammed into the turf.

Grundy’s issue is that when you pin the arms of an opponent and choose to put him to the deck, you assume a duty of care. You also risk being found guilty of using “excessive force”.

The three chief discussion points for the Match Review Panel to assess a dangerous tackle are understood to be a lifting motion, double movement or rotation of the body to build speed and momentum.

Ben Brown was knocked out in the Brodie Grundy tackle.

Dangerfield’s tackle had none of those and he was gone. That’s because one of the criteria for dangerous tackles under MRP guidelines is “The player being tackled is in a vulnerable position (ie arms pinned) with little opportunity to protect himself.”

This is why it’s impossible to conclude Grundy will get anything other than a suspension.

Some may also argue there was also an element of double movement in his tackle — grabbing Brown from behind, the pause, and then the drive into the turf.

Was there intent to hurt? Almost certainly not, but this is the climate.

Magpies coach Nathan Buckley gave an honest assessment of the incident.

”As far as the incident goes, it was a pretty good tackle rewarded with a holding the ball,” he said.

“Clearly when you are tackling someone from behind with momentum there will be a little bit of carry on. It’s pretty hard to put yourself in reverse.

“We understand the lay of the land and the way that precedence has gone in recent weeks — and Dangerfield is a clear example of that — but I don’t know how closely related Brodie’s tackle is to that.

“There is a massive grey area there and we are all swimming in it at the moment. It was a perfect tackle, there was no malice.”

Kangaroos coach Brad Scott agreed Grundy didn’t mean to injure Brown.

Brodie Grundy tackles Ben Brown.

“He’s been taken to hospital for observation. I haven’t had an update yet, but clearly I think he’s felt better,” he said.

“(It’s) not my place to comment on the MRP. Clearly I saw the incident, but we were trying to work out what we were going to do with our forward structure and rucks after that.

“I don’t think there is anything malicious in it, and I didn’t think will was anything malicious in Patrick Dangerfield’s tackle either.

“Unfortunately accidents happen and it we have to make sure we make the game as safe as possible, but making sure it’s a competitive combative sport.”

MRP member Nathan Burke wouldn’t comment on the Grundy tackle as it will be looked at on Monday but when asked about it, told ABC Grandstand: “It’s interesting that because quite often we get coaches complaining about our decisions and then you say to them well what would you say if it was your player that actually got knocked out?

“I wonder if the shoe was on the other foot and Brodie Grundy was the one in hospital whether both coaches would have that same opinion.”

Also at play is that unlike Kreuzer, Brown wasn’t able to leave the field of his own volition. He was fitted with a neck brace and driven from the ground on a motorised stretcher.

Yet controlling umpire Hayden Gavine saw no issue. When play finally resumed, Grundy had a free kick for Brown’s incorrect disposal.

North Melbourne captain Jack Ziebell said the rules needed to be looked at.

“It’s obviously a grey area. I am confused personally,” he told Channel 7.

“I can only speak on behalf of myself and Brodie Grundy gets a free kick for holding the ball, yet Ben Brown goes off on the stretcher. I’m not sure whether the umpire has that right or not, but obviously it’s a little confusing.

“It’s a grey area that probably needs to be looked at at the end of the year because probably commentators and players are confused as well and going forward we need to make that clearer for everyone.”

Originally published as Brodie Grundy set to come under MRP scrutiny after dangerous tackle on Ben Brown