Past Brownlow winners say Patrick Dangerfield and Geelong made right decision not to challenge ban

PATRICK Dangerfield and Geelong made the right decision by not challenging his suspension according to past Brownlow Medal winners.

Patrick Dangerfield is ineligible for the Brownlow Medal. Picture: Getty

GEELONG got it right by not challenging Patrick Dangerfield’s suspension according to a quintet of past Brownlow medallists.

Four of five said while they hated the fact Dangerfield could miss a back-to-back medal because of the ruling, the match review panel had nowhere to move given the current wording of the laws.

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Only Jason Akermanis said he believed the Geelong superstar could have avoided suspension.

Four other Brownlow winners said Dangerfield entered dangerous territory once Kreuzer was concussed.

Here’s what they said:

PETER BEDFORD (1970)

“We’ve seen similar incidents where players have got off but it’s a very fine line. I feel so disappointed for him. I’m sure his intent wasn’t to hurt Kreuzer but the way he tackled him meant the big bloke went into free fall and didn’t have anywhere to go.”

Patrick Dangerfield appeals to the umpire after his dangerous tackle on Matthew Kreuzer.

KEITH GREIG (1973-74)

“Unfortunately he’s a victim of the wording of the ruling, even if he didn’t try to cause harm. It’s sad that he’s had to cop a week. When you see some of the others that have been cited, it was hard to see him getting off. I don’t know how there people say if you tackle two arms, you have to release one straight away because no one can do that.”

MALCOLM BLIGHT (1978)

“It’s just so line ball. I still believe accidents can happen in our game. Is he a repeat offender? No. Shouldn’t we look deeper into a good behaviour bond for exceptional circumstances. He appeared to just turn him ever so slightly but he got himself into an awkward position.”

Matthew Kreuzer suffered concussion as a result of the incident. Picture: Michael Klein

BRAD HARDIE (1985)

“Guilty by law, not by commonsense. He was always gone under that pinning the arm stuff even if there wasn’t much malice in it. But every time I look at it he seems to flip him from his side to his face. Had he been able to control the tackle and keep him on his side, he would have been fine.”

JASON AKERMANIS (2001)

“I thought he was pretty bloody stiff because he couldn’t see the ball. There was no double movement and to me it was a perfect tackle, so are we trying to take the perfect tackle out of the game? It wasn’t his fault that he didn’t see the ball had spilt free. It doesn’t sit right with me.”