James Sicily suspension upheld, Hawk to miss three games

The AFL Appeals Board has come to a decision on James Sicily’s suspension, with his tackle on Hugh McCluggage more than a week ago still in the spotlight.

James Sicily of the Hawks during the round 13 AFL match between Hawthorn and the Brisbane Lions at the MCG on June 9, 2023, in Melbourne, Australia. Picture: Michael Klein.

Hawthorn captain James Sicily has lost his bid to play in Sunday’s clash with Gold Coast and will miss the next three matches after the AFL Appeals Board upheld his dangerous tackle ban.

As the AFL’s recent crackdown on dangerous tackles continues to divide the football world, the appeals board contended that there had not been an error of law and that the penalty had not been unreasonable in last Tuesday’s tribunal hearing.

After a marathon three-hour hearing and deliberation on Monday night, AFL Appeals board chairman Murray Kellam KC dismissed Hawthorn’s case.

“We accept this is a difficult case and of course we accept as submitted by counsel for the AFL that reasonable minds may differ in such circumstances,” Kellam said.

James Sicily has had his three-game ban upheld. Picture: Getty Images

“However, having regard to the evidence available and in particular to the video evidence which we note was taken from a number of angles ... and is pretty clear on each occasion, we are unable to come to the conclusion that the tribunal came to a decision that was unreasonable that no tribunal in its position could have come to such a decision.

“Accordingly, the decision of the board is that the appeal is dismissed and the decision of the tribunal is confirmed.”

Sicily will miss matches against the Suns, Carlton and Greater Western Sydney after the AFL Appeals Board accepted the tribunal’s ruling on his round 13 tackle that left Brisbane’s Hugh McCluggage concussed.

It’s the second time in three weeks that Sicily has been suspended, following his one-game ban for striking St Kilda’s Anthony Caminiti in round 11.

The decision comes as incoming AFL chief executive Andrew Dillion conceded the league will review the dangerous tackle guidelines at the end of the season, but stressed that he did not believe it was creating confusion among the players.

McCluggage sat out the rest of the Hawks clash with the Lions with concussion after the tackle. Picture: Getty Images

The AFL has now had 24 players banned for dangerous tackles this season, with the latest being Carlton’s Matthew Cottrell given a one-game ban arising out of Sunday’s clash with Gold Coast.

The Blues have until 11am on Tuesday to decide if they want to appeal the decision.

Sicily did not appear in the appeals video hookup.

Hawthorn’s counsel Will Houghton KC argued early in the hearing there had been “several” errors of law and a lack of procedural fairness arising out of last Tuesday night’s tribunal, but that was rejected by the appeals board.

In complex legal arguments from both sides, Houghton contested that some of the findings made by the chairman of the tribunal last week had not been put to Sicily and expert witness Dr Liz Bradshaw - a senior lecturer in biomechanics - during the hearing.

He also questioned why the tribunal did not question Sicily about whether he was involved in any pulling of the left-arm of McCluggage, or if it was caused by “rotational movement”, while he also queried why the tribunal did not reference in its findings Dr Bradshaw’s assertion that Sicily’s teammate Tyler Brockman may have contributed to the severity of the incident.

Sicily has been in stellar form this year. Picture: Michael Klein

Houghton claimed the tribunal erred by not “referring to or making any findings in regard to the evidence of Dr Bradshaw, which was clearly favourable to the case of Mr Sicily.”

He added: “(Mr) Sicily was conducting a legal tackle at the time. It’s very unfortunate McCluggage suffered an injury, but we must also keep in mind that tackle resulted in a free kick to Sicily.”

In response to Houghton’s claims that the video of the incident was “ambiguous”, AFL legal counsel Lisa Hannon KC said the tribunal had access to multiple angles and frames and that the vision was clear.

She referenced the fact that Sicily had appeared as part of last week’s tribunal hearing - and had been represented by two barristers - highlighting he had every chance to have his say.

She insisted that even if the tribunal had not explained everything in its reasoning last Tuesday, it did not “have a material impact” on the decision to ban Sicily for three matches.