Jimmy Webster’s bump on Jy Simpkin slammed as ‘prehistoric’

The lawyer taking on the AFL over a concussion class action has slammed Jimmy Webster’s bump on Jy Simpkin as ‘prehistoric’.

The lawyer taking on the AFL over a concussion class action has demanded the league make a statement over Jimmy Webster’s high bump on Jy Simpkin as she labelled the action as “prehistoric”.

St Kilda defender Webster was on Monday night referred directly to the tribunal for a severe impact, careless hit that could end up costing him an eight-week suspension.

The AFL was particularly incensed by the manner in which Webster gathered momentum in his final steps then leapt off the ground to strike Simpkin, concussing him for the third time since round 12 last year.

Margalit Injury Lawyers managing principal Michel Margalit in an exclusive interview on Monday the 100 players involved in that class action expected the league to crack down on the Webster hit.

AFL executives Andrew Dillon (CEO), Stephen Meade (legal) and Laura Kane (football) were expected to be consulted before the AFL advocate requests a penalty at Tuesday’s tribunal.

But the league could ask for a punishment of up to eight weeks before the tribunal jury is asked to deliberate.

Margalit said the players involved in the law suit went through trauma every time they witnessed an act of such severity and brutality.

“We consider that this type of knock, which was seemingly intentional, completely unacceptable in the present-day game,” she said.

“We call upon the AFL to instigate a meaningful suspension. Without a meaningful suspension there will be no true change to behaviour.

“It is incumbent upon the AFL to bring meaning to their policies and protocols. If they don’t have that consistency this prehistoric behaviour will not be eradicated.”

“We hope we are now in a new landscape. There was a significant fine with the Aliir Aliir knock. We very much encouraged that meaningful action was taken by the AFL. We hope to see similar meaningful action taken here.”

“The people we represent feel it’s incredibly traumatic to continue to see these incidents.

It is reliving their own trauma. So they want to see real change affected in our community and it’s the very reason this class action was brought.”

Port Adelaide was fined $100,000 last year after Aliir was allowed to play on without a SCAT5 test despite a heavy collision with teammate Lachie Jones.

On Monday St Kilda coach Ross Lyon said 30-year-old Webster was “devastated” by the bump after meeting him for coffee on Monday morning.

Webster said he had apologised to Simpkin and would accept the consequences of his actions at the tribunal.

“I deeply regret my actions in yesterday’s game. I’ve reached out to Jy and cannot understate my remorse. My thoughts are with Jy and his family, and I hope he has a speedy and successful recovery. I fully recognise the importance of protecting players’ heads and in this instance, I failed to meet that much-needed standard. I will present to the Tribunal and understand there will be consequences for my actions,” he said

Lyon said there was “no defence” for the hit.

“He’s really concerned for Jy. Very remorseful but it was a split second action. It’s very difficult. It’s just a very difficult situation. Really concerned for both lads, in particular Jy because it was a very heavy physical contact. Jimmy’s remorseful.“

AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon told Fox Footy’s AFL 360 on Monday the league would weigh up the number of weeks to push for at the tribunal

“It’s not easy and it’s one of the hardest parts of that role. What we will do is look at other incidents and then the gradings. What was the impact on Simpkin? All those things get taken into account. If you look at Webster compared to (Sam) Powell-Pepper’s suspension there are differences and they will be taken into account when we look at a sanction.

“St Kilda have been on the record as saying this and this is an action we don’t need in our game and we don’t want in our game.

“I am not going to put a number (of weeks) on it. Community expectations are changing. The AFL have to be at the forefront of that.”

AFL executive Kane said on Monday the league had made clear to players the type of incidents which were unacceptable.

“We don’t like to see players get hurt. We have been very clear over the off-season about what we do and don’t want to see on the field.

“The quality of the game can continue to improve even as we overlay rule changes that increase the safety of the way it is played.”