Ben Stratton has been suspended one-week on each charge for a total of two weeks.
AFL Daily: Ben Stratton expresses remorse after he was banned for pinching and stomping
Hawthorn captain Ben Stratton admits his repeated pinching of Essendon opponent Orazio Fantasia was not a good look for the game after he was suspended for the act at the AFL Tribunal in addition to a separate ban for stomping.
Hawthorn captain Ben Stratton says he never meant to hurt his opponents after being suspended for two weeks over two separate charges he faced at the AFL Tribunal.
Stratton faced a charge of serious misconduct for repeatedly pinching Essendon opponent Orazio Fantasia last Friday night, which he pleaded guilty to and landed him a one-week ban.
He also faced a separate charge of stomping the foot of Essendon’s Shaun McKernan in the same match, for which he also pleaded guilty and resulted in a one-week suspension.
Stratton sat solemnly and largely motionless in the back of the room watching proceedings alongside Hawthorn football boss Graham Wright and did not address the tribunal directly at any stage.
However, he spoke after the hearing in a brief statement to media, saying he accepted the verdicts.
“As captain of the footy club and player of the AFL I understand this is not a good look for the game, especially kids watching from home,” Stratton said.
“(I’m) extremely remorseful for my actions. I never meant to go out there and hurt my opponent. I just want to play in the hardest manner possible. So I accept the two weeks that the tribunal’s come up with.”
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Stratton’s player advocate Peter O’Farrell told the hearing his client had reached out to Fantasia after the game and had displayed remorse, including publicly in a video released on Saturday afternoon.
O’Farrell said Stratton had played 180 AFL games and had never before been suspended and the reaction over the weekend to his pinching of Fantasia had “crystalised the responsibilities that go with being an AFL captain”.
Stratton’s team made reference to Fremantle’s Ryan Crowley being fined $1200 for pinching North Melbourne opponent Brent Harvey in 2013, however tribunal chairman David Jones noted Crowley’s was a charge of misconduct rather than serious misconduct which had been levelled against Stratton.
AFL Legal Counsel Jeff Gleeson QC argued Stratton’s pinching of Fantasia was “deliberate”, “calculated” and “considered” in calling for a one-week suspension for the charge.
“They were unacceptable acts and they were unsportsman-like acts," Gleeson said.
“They did have not only the potential but the effect of causing harm to the game. The focus on this when it is captured is unsatisfactory and it’s something that the game can do without.”
On the stomping charge, O’Farrell said Stratton had reacted to having his own foot stepped on in a “school yard tit-for-tat” and McKernan’s clean medical report reflected the “low-level nature” of the stomp.
However, Gleeson argued that the action had “the potential to cause serious injury” and it was a “matter of good fortune not good management” that McKernan had not been seriously injured.
Stratton’s team argued fines should be imposed both charges, but the tribunal took just 10 minutes to decide on its verdicts for both cases and opted to impose one-week suspensions for each.
Hawthorn faces a Round 14 clash with Sydney at the SCG on Friday night.
Updates
VERDICT
Jury deliberating
The tribunal is now considering its verdict for both charges.
Stratton's player advocate has asked the tribunal to consider a substantial fine for the stomping charge: "an appropriate range … would be a fine and the upper range a one-week penalty.”
Stratton's team has submitted that a "fine with appropriate loading" would be sufficient for the pinching charge, which is is at the “low end of the penalty range for serious misconduct” and was " more in the nature of annoying behaviour rather than conduct that would cause serious injury".
A fine in the range of $3000 to $5000 has been submitted as an appropriate penalty.
Stratton's defence
Stratton's player advocate has asked the tribunal to consider a substantial fine for the stomping charge: "an appropriate range … would be a fine and the upper range a one-week penalty.”
Stratton's team has submitted that a "fine with appropriate loading" would be sufficient for the pinching charge, which is is at the “low end of the penalty range for serious misconduct” and was " more in the nature of annoying behaviour rather than conduct that would cause serious injury".
A fine in the range of $3000 to $5000 has been submitted as an appropriate penalty.
The AFL has asked the tribunal for a one-week suspension to be imposed for the separate stomping charge.
The AFL is arguing that Stratton's stomping on Shaun McKernan is "an unsatisfactory act in any view" and a "bad look".
Legal counsel Jeff Gleeson QC said: "It’s a matter of good fortune not good management that he appears not to have struck the most vulnerable part of McKernan’s foot.”
Stomping charge
The AFL has asked the tribunal for a one-week suspension to be imposed for the separate stomping charge.
The AFL is arguing that Stratton's stomping on Shaun McKernan is "an unsatisfactory act in any view" and a "bad look".
Legal counsel Jeff Gleeson QC said: "It’s a matter of good fortune not good management that he appears not to have struck the most vulnerable part of McKernan’s foot.”
The tribunal has been shown vision of Stratton from a series of angles pinching Essendon opponent Orazio Fantasia.
Stratton watched on sitting solemnly in the back of the room.
The medical report on Fantasia showed "nothing of significance".
AFL legal counsel Jeff Gleeson QC has called on the tribunal to impose a one-week suspension on Stratton for the pinching charge.
“They did have not only the potential but the effect of causing harm to the game. The focus on this when it is captured is unsatisfactory and it’s something that the game can do without,” Gleeson said.
“They were unacceptable acts and they were unsportsman like acts.”
Pinching charge
The tribunal has been shown vision of Stratton from a series of angles pinching Essendon opponent Orazio Fantasia.
Stratton watched on sitting solemnly in the back of the room.
The medical report on Fantasia showed "nothing of significance".
AFL legal counsel Jeff Gleeson QC has called on the tribunal to impose a one-week suspension on Stratton for the pinching charge.
“They did have not only the potential but the effect of causing harm to the game. The focus on this when it is captured is unsatisfactory and it’s something that the game can do without,” Gleeson said.
“They were unacceptable acts and they were unsportsman like acts.”
Stratton pleads guilty
Ben Stratton has agreed to plead guilty to both charges of pinching and stomping.
The hearings will be heard one after the other, before the jury deliberates and hands out its verdicts for both charges.
Hawthorn captain Ben Stratton has arrived at the AFL Tribunal where he will be forced to explain why he repeatedly pinched Essendon forward Orazio Fantasia last Friday night.
Stratton is alleged to have pinched Fantasia up to eight times and faces a fine of more than $5000.
He also faces a charge of stomping on the foot of Bombers forward Shaun McKernan.
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