Match review officer says suspending every player that punched would result in ‘carnage’

SUSPENDING every player for striking - no matter the impact - could result in “carnage” proportions of suspensions, according to match review officer Michael Christian.

Cale Hooker swings a punch at Daniel McKenzie.

SUSPENDING every player for striking - no matter the impact - could result in “carnage” proportions of suspensions, according to match review officer Michael Christian.

Christian has today defended his decision to penalise Bomber Cale Hooker with a misconduct fine for his swinging arm toward St Kilda’s Daniel McKenzie on Friday night.

Christian said he believed the game was “at the moment” strong enough against striking and maintained that any strike must have a level of impact to warrant a suspension.

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Christian said while he had the capacity to upgrade Hooker’s charge on the basis of potential to cause serious injury, he rejected the suggestion that it was warranted.

“The contact was made in the end with the inside of the arm,” he said.

“(The look of it) is why he was fined.

Cale Hooker swings a punch at Daniel McKenzie.

“There’s still got to be a degree of impact to consider those other provisions.

“In this particular case I didn’t believe it warranted a suspension.”

He said that Hooker had not reached the level of impact required to up the charge.

“Like everything, there’s got to be a level of impact,” Christian said.

“Sometimes this gets a little misread.

There was a striking action, but there was no impact. There’s got to be more than negligible impact to constitute a charge. Hooker was fined under the misconduct provisions because there wasn’t enough impact to get to the classifiable table.

Josh Kelly lies injured after a sling tackle from Taylor Walker.

“If you look closely at the strike, there was actually no impact to the head of any force whatsoever. With that, the decision was made to fine under the misconduct provisions.”

Christian is bound by a table of offences and said that to suspend every player for an apparent strike rather than issuing fines could create “carnage”.

“My role is to apply the rules and the guidelines as they sit. Whilst the intentionality of particular acts are considered, there needs to be an associated impact,” he said.

“To suspend every player that strikes or punches with negligible impact ... I think we’ve got to be a little be careful what we wish for, because there will be carnage in terms of the number of suspensions.

“That’s certainly something that will be looked at at the end of the year.”

Adelaide captain Taylor Walker won’t play again this season if he accepts his two-match ban for a dangerous tackle on Giant Josh Kelly.

Jarrad Waite hits Jackson Trengove high.

Jarrad Waite hits Jackson Trengove high.

“The guidelines are really specific on if you rotate, sling or drive an opponent into the ground with excessive force,” he said.

“In this particular case I believe there was a rotation and elements of a sling and certainly there was a lifting motion as well.”

Jarrad Waite escaped suspension for his high hit on Bulldog Jackson Trengove.

Waite jumped off the ground and hit an unsuspecting Trengove in the head during North Melbourne’s loss to the Western Bulldogs on Sunday but was offered a $3000 fine for rough conduct.

“I’ve gotta say, I’m not one bit surprised that Jarrod Waite’s done this, because, that’s what he tends to do,” Garry Lyon said on Fox Footy.

“He has these little brain fades where the thinks, ‘I’m going to make him earn that’.”

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