AFL Tribunal shock as controversial Jackson Archer ban upheld

A North Melbourne youngster has learned his fate after the AFL Tribunal met to decide whether his much-debated suspension would be upheld.

The AFL Tribunal has upheld the three-week suspension given to North Melbourne’s Jackson Archer for his collision with Western Bulldogs defender Luke Cleary on Saturday.

The ugly collision unfolded in the fourth quarter of the Bulldogs’ Round 1 win and left Cleary face down on the turf out cold.

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The AFL’s Match Review Officer (MRO) handed down a three-week suspension after it was graded as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact — that ban was challenged unsuccessfully by North Melbourne.

On Tuesday night the Tribunal acknowledged Archer attempted to slow down before making contact with Cleary, but ultimately deemed he did not show enough duty of care to himself and the opposition player.

The Tribunal found Archer’s behaviour was rough conduct as it was unreasonable in the circumstances, that it was reasonably foreseeable that Cleary was going to ground, that he slowed too little and too late, that the severe potential to cause injury had to be considered, and thus he breached his duty of care.

“When he starts to pick up the ball, I’m starting to slow down enough where I can make a fair tackle,” Archer said in his evidence.

“It’s not until his knee hits the ground that I realise he’s chosen to go to ground.

Cleary slams into Archer's knee and is KO'd. Credit: Fox Footy

“I’m bracing trying to stop my momentum. My bum’s down, trying to slow down as much as I can, hit the brakes, obviously he’s going to ground. I don’t want to be in that situation and I don’t want him to be in that situation either.

“I expected him to pick up the ball and stay on his feet … if you go to ground you can possibly give away a free kick for below the knees contact.”

The impact was “quite hard” on Archer’s patella and he was “in shock … and in a fair bit of pain”.

“I thought I would possibly get a free kick but not immediately at the time”, while relaying a text from Cleary in which the Bulldog said “he didn’t think it was my fault and said I’ve got nothing to stress about.”

He was asked by the AFL: “Do you accept you should’ve slowed a bit earlier than you did?”

Archer said: “No, I don’t think so … the ball is in dispute, it’s an egg-shaped ball, you don’t know which way it’s going to bounce.”

Andrew Woods, acting for the AFL, said “the AFL’s position is that it’s rough conduct and unreasonable in the circumstances.

“It was unreasonable for Archer to maintain the momentum that he did, not really being in a position to take possession of the ball and in the fact of Cleary going low to try and collect the ball,” Woods said.

“The reason we don’t see these types of incidents very often … is because players simply take more care in a situation like this.

“He does take what appear to be two short steps, attempting to slow, but by then it was too late … he knew he wasn’t going to get to the ball first.”

But Justin Graham for North Melbourne argued: “This was an awful collision that involved two brave footballers. It’s an unfortunate accident. It’s not more than that.”

The Kangaroos used player tracking data to show Archer dropped his velocity as he slowed down before the collision.

The Dogs defender was out cold. Credit: Fox Footy.

Archer will miss North Melbourne’s next three games against Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney.

Garry Lyon said on Fox Footy’s AFL 360: “We have lauded for many years an unconditional attack on the footy or the man with the footy.

“What we are now expecting of our players is you have to be conditional.

“We’ve accepted the vulnerability of the front on bump, that’s conditional, your attack on the footy. Now we’re asking players to be conditional again in these circumstances.”

Kane Cornes said on Channel 7’s Agenda Setters: “It’s a joke that this is a three-game suspension.” Cornes also described the ban as “ridiculous”.

Debate had simmered over the past few days over whether Archer deserved to be suspended, with even Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge coming out in support of Archer.

Jackson Archer’s suspension was upheld at the Tribunal. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

Richmond star’s bump ban upheld

Richmond’s Tom Lynch also failed in his bid to overturn a one-game ban for a bump on Carlton’s Tom De Koning.

Lynch said he felt a “significant push” from Carlton defender Jacob Weitering, which contributed to his positioning to bump De Koning in the contest.

Richmond's Tom Lynch collects Carlton's Tom De Koning high in R1 at the MCG

“It pushes me low and then forward,” Lynch said, “as a result my distance between De Koning and I has shortened and right now I’m in a vulnerable position and I react to that push to try and get my body and head especially out of the dangerous position that it’s in.

“My head is at the same height as his elbows and having a big tall ruckman coming towards me, I felt vulnerable.

“I turned to protect myself and moved side-on to brace for the contact.”

The AFL’s Andrew Woods said the push “wasn’t of significant force” and Lynch opted to bump instead of going for the ball.

“Lynch’s movements are incongruous with saying that’s what moved him towards De Koning,” Woods argued.

“He leaves the ground, he turns his body and moves his arm in … he was either stopped or close to stopped (before the contact) and there was no contesting the ball.”

Hawthorn defender’s charge upheld

The AFL Tribunal has upheld all three suspensions tonight, with Jack Scrimshaw bid to downgrade a three-match ban also unsuccessful.

The Hawthorn defender was aiming to downgrade a three-match suspension for striking Essendon’s Jordan Ridley, who was concussed.

Scrimshaw pled guilty but the Tribunal disagreed with Hawthorn’s arguments and kept the grading as “severe”, upholding the three-match ban.