Saints star Paddy Ryder banned, but debate is far from over

Saints star Paddy Ryder’s arguments have been tossed out by the AFL tribunal, but the larger furore has only just begun.

St Kilda is citing Tim English's bump on Nick Blakey in an attempt to free Paddy Ryder of his suspension.

Saints star Paddy Ryder has had his appeal thrown out by the AFL tribunal and will miss the next two rounds of football.

The case has sparked heated debate after footy legends, including Nathan Buckley, this week hit out at the decision to charge Ryder, who has limited opportunity to brace himself before he put Hawthorn’s Will Day on his backside.

The AFL match review officer offered the star ruckman a two-match suspension for the bump on Day, who was subbed out of the Hawk’s 69-point loss to St Kilda on Sunday with concussion after he was hit by Ryder during the second quarter.

While the tribunal’s ruling is the end of Ryder’s case, it has opened up a debate that is far from over.

“It doesn’t surprise,” Fox Footy’s AFL 360 co-host Mark Robinson said.

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“And this is going to be an ongoing discussion. Some senior people in footy right now have different views. Should the AFL be concerned about those views? No. Everyone out there has their own opinion.”

Former Port Adelaide star Tom Rockliff posted on Twitter the verdict was “laughable”.

“Jump out of the player’s way and let him past? What if he didn’t kick it? He stopped and didn’t try to bump. Ryder had no other option in a split second,” he wrote.

The incident was graded as careless conduct with high impact and high contact, resulting in a two-match ban — however, the Saints elected to challenge the ruling, arguing the grading was too extreme.

St Kilda is citing Tim English's bump on Nick Blakey in an attempt to free Paddy Ryder of his suspension.

It comes after some high profile football commentators defended Ryder’s action, declaring he was simply bracing for contact and couldn’t have reasonably avoided the collision.

The Saints’ legal representative, Jack Rush QC, attempted to argue Ryder’s bump was one of “medium” impact rather than “high”.

St Kilda presented a precedent where Bulldogs ruckman Tim English bumped Sydney star Nick Blakey in Round 3 having had limited time to brace for the contact.

That case was ruled to be “not unreasonable in the circumstances”.

Despite the similarities of the two hits, the tribunal dismissed the argument, ruling the force of Ryder’s contact was significant.

Ryder will miss St Kilda’s upcoming clashes against the Gold Coast Suns and GWS Giants.

With the focus on concussion increasing in recent years, the AFL has flagged its determination to protect players’ heads, with the onus on those who elect to bump.

Collingwood legend Nathan Buckley claimed it would show the game has “got too soft” if Ryder was suspended.

Saints coach Brett Ratten said Ryder’s bump “looked pretty fair” to him, but would let the MRO process play out.

“I saw the incident on replay and I’ll let the tribunal or anybody look at it to make an assessment,” he told reporters.

Paddy Ryder. Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

“It did look like he just hit him pretty much up the front, which is going to hurt somebody. He was quite open there.

“But it looked pretty fair to me. But anyway, we‘ll let others make those calls and that’s why they’re in the game to make these calls.”

AFL great Campbell Brown completely disagreed with Ryder being punished.

“My advice to players is never brace for contact on a football field, it is now an illegal action,” he tweeted.

Garry Lyon told SEN Breakfast he thought a one-game suspension “would have been fine” while Essendon legend Tim Watson said he wasn’t surprised Ryder was rubbed out.

“I wasn’t surprised that he got cited and I wasn’t surprised that he got penalised,” he told SEN.

“My understanding is, if you make contact with somebody in the head in the act of bumping, then you will then pay the price.

“There was nothing malicious in it, there was nothing vicious in it, in that last second he probably tried to avoid the contact.

“The game is asking him to make a decision before (the hit), and approach it in a different way.”