Adelaide Crows ‘furious’, coach privately ‘very unhappy’

The Adelaide Crows are reportedly privately seething about the judiciary farce that has sparked outrage across the AFL.

Shane McAdam of the Crows. Photo by Will Russell/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The Adelaide Crows are reportedly “furious” after Shane McAdam was on Tuesday night slapped with a three-week ban.

The club on Wednesday announced it will appeal the ruling that saw McAdam suspended on a rough conduct charge.

McAdam attempted to contest his case after match review officer Michael Christian sent him directly through to the Tribunal, grading the contact “severe”.

McAdam ran through GWS Giants youngster Jacob Wehr, sending his head snapping back in a hit that could be heard around the stadium.

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The AFL pushed for a lengthy ban on the basis of the potential of the bump to cause injury to the Giants player.

However, the footy world has been left shaking its head just days after Melbourne’s Kysaiah Pickett received just a two-match ban for his hit on Bailey Smith.

The Crows released a brief, diplomatic statement, confirming the appeal will be heard on Thursday.

Kysaiah Pickett, Shane McAdam and Lance Franklin are all facing MRO scrutiny.

However, the club is reportedly much more furious behind the scenes.

Channel 9’s Corey Norris posted on Twitter coach Matthew Nicks is privately “very unhappy” about the verdict.

“Adelaide will appeal the tribunal’s 3 match ban on Shane McAdam,” Norris wrote on Twitter.

“The club is furious with the decision. I believe coach Matthew Nicks is very unhappy and rightly so. They’ll fight it.

“If the MRO had just graded it high impact in the first place (2 weeks) we would have avoided this farce. What an embarrassing fat waste of time and money.

“Standby for another year of #afl confusion with these incidents. So inconsistent. Get rid of any grey area and ban the bump once and for all. There’s no place for it in our game anymore. #banthebump.”

He said the ruling was “ridiculous”.

On Wednesday morning former Crows captain Mark Bickley also torched the process that included such an “abnormality” in the grading system.

He said it is a “glaring hole” that there was such inconsistency between Pickett’s case and McAdam’s case.

Shane McAdam will likely be in strife for this incident.

“The way it’s presented at the tribunal, it’s like a court hearing,” Bickley said on SEN South Australia.

“I think sometimes we are in danger of disappearing up our own backsides, some of the rubbish that gets spoken about at the tribunal.”

McAdams’ representation responded to the AFL’s submissions by saying the bump is still a legal motion within the laws of the game and that he had not made contact with the head of his opponent.

“You can talk about the fact he could’ve tackled him and welcomed him with open arms, but that’s not a decision that has to be made, it’s perfectly fine to bump in the AFL,” McAdam’s lawyer said.

“If McAdam’s shoulder made contact with the head of Wehr, the head would’ve gone backwards. That’s not what happens, it simply rests forward.

“This is clearly not a high bump because it doesn’t in any way involve the head.”