Giants want answers from AFL as star Bulldog avoids suspension over Nick Haynes bump

GWS has been hit with a fresh injury blow on the eve of finals — and the Giants want to know why their man will miss football but Bulldogs star Marcus Bontempelli is free to play.

Bontempelli’s “low impact” collision with Haynes.

GWS Giants have fired off a terse please explain to the AFL over why a serious injury to defender Nick Haynes’ was ignored in the decision not to suspend Western Bulldogs superstar Marcus Bontempelli.

Scans have come back confirming Haynes will miss between two and four weeks with a fractured larynx that left him unable to breathe after Sunday’s match and now struggling to talk.

The freak injury was suffered as a result of a second-quarter clash with Bontempelli, who escaped with a $2000 fine for the high shot.

Live stream the 2019 Toyota AFL Premiership Season on KAYO SPORTS. Every match of every round. Live & anytime on your TV or favourite device. Get your 14 day free trial >

Nick Haynes disposes of the footy as Marcus Bontempelli approaches. Pic: afl.com.au

However, GWS are privately fuming that the AFL match review would classify the incident as “careless conduct, low impact” before even considering details of Haynes’ health.

AFL match review rules are supposed to determine injury to opposing player as one of its criteria in determining charges and suspensions, but that doesn’t appear to have occurred in the Bontempelli case.

The Daily Telegraph understands Haynes had a scan on Monday and later saw a specialist to learn his fate.

By that time, the AFL had already made public their match review findings.

Bontempelli’s “low impact” collision with Haynes.

Bontempelli is a superstar in Melbourne and a contender for the Brownlow Medal, and the Giants privately feel this is yet another example of the perceived bias that impacts non-Victorian clubs.

Haynes may have played his last game of the season and will be racing the clock to be fit for the first final in less than three weeks’ time.

Bontempelli on the other hand is free to play, and pending results this weekend, the Bulldogs are a massive chance of facing the Giants in a knockout week-one final.

GWS have sought an explanation from the AFL.

Giants football boss Wayne Campbell confirmed the latest bad news in the club’s perennial injury crisis.

Haynes feels the pain of the contact.

“So he got that hit on the weekend and he’s got a fractured cricoid bone, or a little bit of cartilage in his throat,” said Campbell.

“He saw a specialist yesterday and he’s going to miss at least the next two weeks if not up to four. So it’s pretty disappointing.

“It’s very, very rare. Our doctors haven’t seen one before. He managed to see out the game, but couldn’t breathe at the end of the game but the doctors did the right thing by him after that.”

The good news for the Giants is that forward line stars Jeremy Cameron and Jeremy Finlayson will return this week from injury, while Sam Taylor and Daniel Lloyd are also available for selection.

Originally published as Giants want answers from AFL as star Bulldog avoids suspension over Nick Haynes bump