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Richmond ruckman Ivan Soldo fails to have his one match ban overturned at the AFL tribunal
Richmond ruckman Ivan Soldo and football boss Neil Balme left the AFL tribunal without speaking to the media, with the Tigers clearly frustrated they now need to search for a replacement ruck for this week’s Dreamtime at the G clash.
Richmond’s ruck stocks have been further depleted after the AFL tribunal dismissed Ivan Soldo’s claim he was acting in self-defence and upheld his one-match ban.
Soldo, 23, was charged with intentionally striking Hawk James Worpel high and with low impact and declared it was his opponent that had initiated the contact.
It leaves the Tigers with a rucking quandary ahead of Saturday night’s Dreamtime at the G clash with Essendon.
Soldo – who has played just nine AFL games – attempted to argue that he had not intentionally struck Worpel and that it was simply an “instinctive reaction to contact initiated from another player that he was not expecting".
“I was not intending to make contact,” Soldo said.
“I continued running thinking I was thinking about my next position. I was trying to avoid contact. He just stepped in front and tried to bump me.”
Soldo said he had “not enough time to realise it was happening” and said that he had been “stunned” by the contact, which had been amplified by Worpel’s momentum and upward movement.
“I did apologise straight away and was checking up on him,” he said.
“My mission was still to get out to the position I needed to be in.”
An upset Soldo refused to speak to media following the hearing, with a frustrated Neil Balme – Richmond’s football boss - also bypassing the opportunity to discuss the incident.
When cross-examined by the AFL, the Richmond ruck said it was a split-second motion to protect.
“The first instinct was to protect my face, really,” he said.
“It was my instinct at the time, as I was running as well, my arm was in front of me, I hadn’t even seen him. I had no time to really see him so my arm raised as a shield.”
Richmond argued that the immediate apology Soldo gave to Worpel should be taken into account, but the tribunal upheld match review officer Michael Christian’s one-match ban after a 15-minute deliberation.
It leaves Tigers coach Damien Hardwick hunting a rucking candidate for Saturday night’s blockbuster.
Toby Nankervis remains out of the team with an adductor injury.
Noah Balta looms as the most likely prospect, but Hardwick could look to the VFL, with Mabior Chol – who booted two goals and had 10 hitouts – and Callum Coleman-Jones, both having contributed strongly against Box Hill on Sunday.
Updates
Lauren Wood
Richmond ruckman Ivan Soldo has had his one-match ban for striking Hawthorn's James Worpel upheld.
Soldo was called to give evidence. and said: "As soon as the impact was coming my way, I just braced and lifted my arm up to shield myself."
There's a 16cm disparity in height between him and Worpel.
Soldo said he definitely didn't intend to make contact, and that it was Worpel who changed direction to initiate contact with him.
"The first thing I could do was raise an arm to protect myself as a shield," the Tigers ruck says, claiming it was instinct.
Soldo has been cross-examined and said it was his instinct to protect his face when he realised Worpel was coming at him.
"I had no time to see him, really, so I raised my arm as a shield," he says.
He says he immediately apologised to Worpel in the aftermath.
Ivan Soldo guilty, handed one-match ban
Lauren Wood
Richmond ruckman Ivan Soldo has had his one-match ban for striking Hawthorn's James Worpel upheld.
Soldo was called to give evidence. and said: "As soon as the impact was coming my way, I just braced and lifted my arm up to shield myself."
There's a 16cm disparity in height between him and Worpel.
Soldo said he definitely didn't intend to make contact, and that it was Worpel who changed direction to initiate contact with him.
"The first thing I could do was raise an arm to protect myself as a shield," the Tigers ruck says, claiming it was instinct.
Soldo has been cross-examined and said it was his instinct to protect his face when he realised Worpel was coming at him.
"I had no time to see him, really, so I raised my arm as a shield," he says.
He says he immediately apologised to Worpel in the aftermath.
How Thomas reacted to fine
Thomas cops hefty fine for abuse
Lauren Wood
Carlton star Dale Thomas has been whacked with a $7500 fine for his verbal lashing of an umpire that was said to “strike at the heart of impartiality and fairness”.
The tribunal on Tuesday night took just four minutes to hit Thomas, 31, with the fine – which was reduced from $10,000 given his guilty plea and apology to boundary umpire Michael Barlow.
Thomas did not fight the charge, nor the colourful comments that he directed at Barlow during the third quarter of Sunday’s 93-point loss to Greater Western Sydney, which were sparked by the whistleblower warning the Giants that they had to remove an extra player in their forward 50.
“He (Thomas) turned in my direction and said ‘you can’t tell them that, you can’t tell them that d…head’,” Barlow said in a statement to the tribunal.
“I didn’t respond. He kept yelling and said ‘you’re a f…ing cheat, you can’t tell them that, you’re a f…ing cheat’. Again, I did not respond, but took a mental note about what he had said.
“(At three-quarter time) Nathan Williamson the field umpire and I spoke to Thomas and told him he’d been reported for umpire abuse. His reaction was to say ‘what for?’. Then he asked ‘is it for what happened when the Giants had 7?’.”
The AFL asked for a $10,000 fine to be reduced to $7,500 given Thomas had complied with the system and personally apologised to Barlow via a phone call.
But it did not hold back in its disdain for the comments.
“There is no graver insult or accusation to level at an umpire than to accuse him or her of cheating,” league counsel Jeff Gleeson QC said.
“It strikes at the heart of the impartiality and fairness and integrity that umpires are required to bring to their role, do bring to their role and believe that they bring to their role.
“For a boundary umpire who effectively has no voice on the field to suffer a repeated accusation of cheating when he is doing no more than performing his role is a serious matter for the conduct and integrity of the game. Umpires are entitled to go about their duties confident in the knowledge that while players may become excitable, frustrated and verbal, there is a line that will never be crossed. Players should never be entitled to accuse any umpire of cheating without suffering a very significant sanction.
“A $10,000 fine reduced on guilty plea … is a very significant sanction. It is a large amount of money. It’s an amount of money that will resonate with the public, the football-going public and the players who will recognise that this is the sort of sanction, this is the severity of which you will be dealt, if you accuse an umpire of cheating.”
He said the addition of personal insults and foul language did not help the matter, declaring the comments to be “angry, abusive, direct and inappropriate”.
“Thomas can’t even say in his defence that it was a brain snap having just suffered what he perceived to be a free kick given against him … while he was exhausted or while he was physically hurt or distressed,” Gleeson said
“There are very few if any mitigating factors for this abusive language.”
JUST IN: Thomas fine revealed
Dale Thomas has been fined $7500 for umpire abuse.
The tribunal deliberated for about four minutes before announcing the sanction after the Carlton veteran pleaded guilty.
Lauren Wood
The AFL hasn’t held back in its submission for Thomas’ penalty to be $7500.
It says his while guilty plea and apology “are to his credit”, it was simply an unacceptable act.
“There is no graver insult or accusation to level at an umpire than to accuse him or her of cheating,” league counsel Jeff Gleeson QC said.
“It strikes at the heart of the impartiality and fairness and integrity that umpires are required to bring to their role, do bring to their role and believe that they bring to their role.
“For a boundary umpire who effectively has no voice on the field to suffer a repeated accusation of cheating when he is doing no more than performing his role is a serious matter for the conduct and integrity of the game. Umpires are entitled to go about their duties confident in the knowledge that while players may become excitable, frustrated and verbal, there is a line that will never be crossed. Players should never be entitled to accuse any umipres of cheating without suffering a very significant sanction.
“A $10,000 fine reduced on guilty plea … is a very significant sanction. It is a large amount of money. It’s an amount of money that will resonate with the public, the football-going public and the players who will recognise that this is the sort of sanction, this is the severity of which you will be dealt, if you accuse an umpire of cheating.”
He said the addition of personal insults and foul language did not help the matter, declaring the comments to be “angry, abusive, direct and inappropriate”.
Carlton says Thomas respects umpires and is totally remorseful. They're asking for the base sanction to be $7,500, reduced to "$4500-$5000"
Why the AFL wants Thomas fined
Lauren Wood
The AFL hasn’t held back in its submission for Thomas’ penalty to be $7500.
It says his while guilty plea and apology “are to his credit”, it was simply an unacceptable act.
“There is no graver insult or accusation to level at an umpire than to accuse him or her of cheating,” league counsel Jeff Gleeson QC said.
“It strikes at the heart of the impartiality and fairness and integrity that umpires are required to bring to their role, do bring to their role and believe that they bring to their role.
“For a boundary umpire who effectively has no voice on the field to suffer a repeated accusation of cheating when he is doing no more than performing his role is a serious matter for the conduct and integrity of the game. Umpires are entitled to go about their duties confident in the knowledge that while players may become excitable, frustrated and verbal, there is a line that will never be crossed. Players should never be entitled to accuse any umipres of cheating without suffering a very significant sanction.
“A $10,000 fine reduced on guilty plea … is a very significant sanction. It is a large amount of money. It’s an amount of money that will resonate with the public, the football-going public and the players who will recognise that this is the sort of sanction, this is the severity of which you will be dealt, if you accuse an umpire of cheating.”
He said the addition of personal insults and foul language did not help the matter, declaring the comments to be “angry, abusive, direct and inappropriate”.
Carlton says Thomas respects umpires and is totally remorseful. They're asking for the base sanction to be $7,500, reduced to "$4500-$5000"
Lauren Wood
The AFL is asking for the base sanction for Dale Thomas' umpire abuse offence to be a $10,000 fine.
But the fact that Thomas has pleaded guilty and apologised personally and apologised and expressed remorse publicly, they're saying it should come down to $7,500.
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