AFL Tribunal: Toby Greene’s reputation will follow him for rest of career as one-week ban for Patrick Dangerfield hit stands
Giants star Toby Greene’s bid to overturn his one match suspension and play in GWS’ do-or-die clash with Richmond has failed.
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Greater Western Sydney’s bid to free Toby Greene has failed after a marathon AFL Appeals Board hearing where the Giants cited multiple High Court cases and a legal case from the NSW Children’s Court.
Greene’s 0.12sec decision to fend off Patrick Dangerfield with a raised elbow resulted in hours of legal mumbo jumbo across two hearings, which both upheld match review officer Michael Christian’s initial charge of careless conduct.
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Greene must sit out Friday night’s clash against Richmond in what shapes as a critical ruling for the finals fortunes of both clubs.
After more than three hours a verdict was delivered just minutes before teams lobbed for round 22, where the Giants brought back Jesse Hogan, Shane Mumford, Jacob Hopper, Daniel Lloyd and Adam Kennedy against the unchanged Tigers.
At Thursday’s appeal the Giants argued an error of law had been committed by the tribunal as they drilled into the three-sentence verdict submitted by the jury.
Greene did not give evidence at either hearing as player advocate and former AFL football operations boss Adrian Anderson spent two hours arguing the tribunal had applied the wrong test of carelessness.
Anderson pointed to page 35, line 12 of the tribunal transcript where the jury answered “yes” to whether Greene’s strike on Patrick Dangerfield was careless.
“The jury has considered the player chose to use a raised elbow to fend off player Dangerfield in circumstances where there was a reasonable probability that there would be high contact,” the verdict read.
But Anderson argued a risk of high contact did not constitute a reportable offence, although appeals board chairman Murray Kellam noted mid-hearing that recent amendments meant the tribunal was “an expert panel of footballers who don’t necessarily have legal qualifications”.
AFL counsel Jeff Gleeson said the tribunal jury was required to provide brief reasons, and he said the three sentences submitted on Tuesday were purely factual.
Gleeson said the Giants had dressed the verdict up as an error in law and that “reasonably foreseeable” were not the magic words Anderson was protesting.
“This is probably way too much legal analysis for a football appeal,” Gleeson said in a hearing which referenced an immigration case pertaining to the real chance of persecution for someone who wanted to come to Australia.
The AFL Appeals Board ultimately decided that Anderson’s argument “lacks logic” because the tribunal was instructed to provide a brief summary as Greene’s one-match ban from Tuesday was confirmed.
“It is clearly not intended that the reasons are to contain a detailed analysis of all of the evidence, nor a detailed analysis of the reasons as might be expected in a judicial context,” Kellam said.
‘Guilty until proven innocent’: AFL hard man backs Greene
Toby Greene will never be treated fairly by the AFL’s judicial system because his reputation as a thug is unshakeable, according to former tough nut Steven Baker.
A furious Greater Western Sydney will challenge Greene’s one-match suspension at the AFL Appeals Board on Thursday after the club failed to argue his striking charge was wrongly graded as careless conduct at Tuesday’s tribunal hearing.
The Giants are expected to use Bayley Fritsch’s overturned ban from a similar incident in round 7 as a relevant precedent at Thursday’s blockbuster appeal, where the verdict will decide whether Greene can play in Friday night’s quasi-elimination final against Richmond.
Oddly, the Fritsch hearing was not used as evidence on Tuesday night.
Baker – found guilty in all 15 of his tribunal appearances – fears the Giants are wasting their time because Greene will most likely dial into the hearing with a guilty verdict looming.
Two of the three tribunal jury members on Tuesday also presided over Greene’s blockbuster case in preliminary final week in 2019, when a controversial one-match sanction was upheld.
Richard Loveridge and Shane Wakelin were present at both hearings while Steven Loewe rounded out Tuesday’s panel, replacing David Neitz from 2019.
Eyebrows were raised at the appointments and while the Herald Sun is not suggesting an integrity problem, Baker said from his experiences fresh eyes were needed.
“They’ve definitely got to clean them out,” he said.
“Once they’ve got a perception of someone they’re going to keep that for the next hearing.”
Privately, the Giants have long believed their best player has been unfairly victimised, although football boss Jason McCartney bit his tongue after Tuesday’s hearing.
Asked if Greene was being singled out, McCartney said: “It’s a good question … we probably think there’s a little bit still to play out with this”.
Premiership Hawk Xavier Ellis joked on Twitter that Greene could rescue a family from a house fire only to be scalded for not saving the house.
Greene’s lengthy rap sheet has cost him around $30,000 in fines and seven games through suspension.
Ellis said the mistreatment was no laughing matter.
“I really feel for him,” he told News Corp.
“Toby’s not afforded the same leniency as other superstar players, and certainly not the same forgiveness.”
Baker suspects he missed 36-38 games through suspension.
But the tagger can’t understand why one of the game’s marquee players appeared to be in the league’s sights.
“He’s one of the best players in the AFL. It surprises me they’re going after him so much,” Baker said.
“I think he’s been vilified and is guilty until proven innocent.
“If someone with a clean record did the same thing I think they’d get off.”
Baker said he copped seven matches for a “he-said, she-said” incident with Jeff Farmer that wasn’t caught on camera and another three games for kicking Steve Alessio despite getting stomped on first.
“I rehearsed the speeches and practised the whole week with the QC and would go in suited up and say everything perfectly,” Baker said.
“But it didn’t matter what I’d say. I’d get exactly the same result if I went in nude and took a s**t on the desk.
“I think I had 15 out of 15 guilty, so I knew before I went in that they were giving me guilty no matter what.”
Baker, who played 203 games for the Saints and won the 2005 best-and-fairest, said Greene was in a similar category.
“Toby’s got that thug name now and the AFL are trying to stamp out all this roughness,” he said.
“I think it’s too hard to get rid of. Once you’re deemed a thug as soon as you do anything remotely controversial people are up in arms about it.
“The microscope is put on him 10 times more than another player with a clean record.
“He’s definitely been hard done by and hopefully he gets off.”
Giants make Greene appeal call as Hardwick weighs in
Greater Western Sydney will challenge Toby Greene’s one-game suspension handed down at last night’s tribunal.
The Giants said their officials have reviewed all elements of the case and have informed the AFL.
The appeal’s case is expected to be heard tomorrow afternoon. The Giants take on the Tigers in a must-win clash for both sides on Friday night.
It comes as Richmond premiership coach Damien Hardwick said he believes the raised forearm which saw Greene slapped with a suspension “happens 20 times a game” and is a “football act”.
After initially being offered a two-week ban by AFL match review officer Michael Christian for the high fend off which landed Geelong’s Patrick Dangerfield in hospital, Greene had his suspension downgraded to one week.
As it stands, Greene will miss Friday night’s crunch clash with Richmond, which is a mini final as the two clubs fight for a finals spot with two rounds to play.
Hardwick said while “raising the elbow is always dangerous”, he had sympathy for Greene and the Giants given the AFL Tribunal system is so heavily weighted towards outcomes.
“It’s a challenging one,” Hardwick said.
“It is a football act and I probably tend to agree a little bit with GWS, but if they go based on outcome unfortunately that’s the nature of the result half the time.
“The action itself probably happens 20 times a game. But the fact of the matter is they base their results on the outcome, which is incredibly challenging.
“It’s disappointing because he is a great player that people love to watch and we love to play against, in fairness. So the game will be lesser for not having Toby in it.”
Richmond scored a four-point win last time it met GWS in Round 9 at Marvel Stadium, which was a Tigers home game.
Hardwick said, “I hate coming here” after that match, following criticism about a small Richmond crowd.
The Giants – who are the home team this time – made a request to the AFL this week to again play Friday night’s match at the Docklands venue.
However, Hardwick said he was unfazed where the game was played.
“The fact of the matter is we win a fair few games there so we’re happy to play there,” Hardwick said.
“It doesn’t really worry us where we play.”
Dockers opt against appealing Brayshaw ban
Meanwhile, Fremantle will not appeal Andrew Brayshaw’s one-game suspension which will see the star midfielder miss this weekend’s crucial derby against West Coast. The tribunal deemed that Brayshaw ‘intentionally’ made ‘unreasonable or unnecessary’ contact with Jarrod Berry’s eye region during Sunday’s clash with Brisbane. The 21-year-old said he was disappointed with the decision.
“As I mentioned during the hearing, making contact with an opponent’s face in that manner is never something I would intentionally do,” Brayshaw said.
“However, I have to accept the tribunal’s decision and all I can do now is support our players and coaches for this week’s game and I look forward to returning for the remainder of the season.”
Dockers football boss Peter Bell said there were no grounds of appeal that lead to a realistic chance of success under the AFL’s criteria.
Greene challenge: How Cats doc helped Giant at tribunal
An updated medical report submitted by Geelong on Tuesday saw the tribunal cut Greene’s initial two-match suspension in half.
Brownlow Medallist Patrick Dangerfield spent Friday night in hospital as a precaution after he was elbowed in the throat by Greene.
But a CT scan cleared Dangerfield of a fractured larynx. He suffered bruising to the left side and was treated with analgesics (pain medication), according to Cats medico Dr Kendall Brooks.
The original medical report was submitted to match review officer Michael Christian before the Cats knew how many training sessions or games Dangerfield would miss.
The tribunal downgraded Greene’s charge from high to medium impact but upheld Christian’s view that the incident was careless.
But the Giants remain adamant that Greene’s split-second decision was a football act.
Appealing the tribunal’s verdict would cost the Giants $5000, with $2500 refunded if they are successful.
Greene is no stranger to the AFL Appeals Board, where he unsuccessfully sought to have a suspension throw out in preliminary final week in 2019.
The Giants argued Greene’s action was “instinctive, natural and reasonable in the split second he had available”.
If Greene misses one match then he will return for the round 23 game against Carlton, a club he destroyed with 4.2 last month.
But he would be sorely missed when the Giants host the Tigers at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.
Greene booted five goals against the Tigers last year and his absence will come as a relief to star defender Dylan Grimes.
A suspension could also loosen Greene’s grip on a second All-Australian jacket.
The matchwinner has played only 16 matches this year, missing two games through a shoulder injury and another two games through quarantine because he attended a rugby match at AAMI Park.
But the man who has led the Giants’ resurgence this year, both as their interim captain and as their best player, has booted at least one goal in every game as one of the game’s most watchable players.
Greene sat next to Giants football boss Jason McCartney during the hearing as advocate Adrian Anderson pleaded his innocence and pointed out that the high contact was made to the throat and not the head.
Anderson said Greene had less than 0.12sec between taking possession of the Sherrin and striking Dangerfield.
It was also argued that Dangerfield slipped at the crucial moment before impact, which Anderson said was the only reason Greene was charged.
But AFL counsel Jeff Gleeson said that was irrelevant because Dangerfield’s head did not lower, which was supported by a camera angle of the incident.
Gleeson said the potential to cause injury validated the high impact charge, but the tribunal agreed with the Giants that it should be downgraded to medium.
Bomber free to play, Docker not so lucky
Mason Redman has been cleared to help Essendon continue its late-season charge for a spot in the final eight.
The AFL tribunal on Tuesday night overturned Redman’s one-week suspension for a dangerous tackle on Bulldog captain Marcus Bontempelli.
Redman was initially ruled out for a week by match review officer Michael Christian on a rough conduct charge, tackling Bontempelli during the fourth quarter at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.
The Bombers sit in ninth spot just two points behind Greater Western Sydney and will be favourite to beat the Gold Coast Suns this Sunday.
Meanwhile, Fremantle’s Andrew Brayshaw must sit out Sunday’s prime time western derby against West Coast after the tribunal upheld his one-match suspension.
The midfielder was found guilty of making unreasonable contact to the eye region of Brisbane’s Jarrod Berry.
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Originally published as AFL Tribunal: Toby Greene’s reputation will follow him for rest of career as one-week ban for Patrick Dangerfield hit stands
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