Shane McAdam’s suspension upheld after Adelaide Crows’ appeal fails

Shane McAdam will have to serve a lengthy ban after the Adelaide Crows' attempt to appeal the suspension failed.

PERTH, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 07: Shane McAdam of the Crows celebrates after scoring a goal during the 2022 AFL Round 21 match between the West Coast Eagles and the Adelaide Crows at Optus Stadium on August 7, 2022 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Will Russell/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Shane McAdam’s three-match suspension for rough conduct has been upheld after the Adelaide Crows lost their appeal.

McAdam was sent straight to the AFL Tribunal for his heavy late bump on GWS youngster Jacob Wehr in Adelaide’s Round 1 loss to the Giants.

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

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The Crows player was handed a three-game ban as the AFL pushed for a lengthy suspension on the basis of the potential bump to cause injury to the Giants player.

Adelaide challenged the Tribunal’s decision on Thursday night at the AFL Appeals Board, but the suspension was upheld after a 75-minute hearing and a marathon 85-minute deliberation.

The Tribunal graded McAdam’s bump as careless conduct with severe impact and high contact, but the Crows argued an error of law had been made by the Tribunal in giving too much consideration to the potential to cause injury.

Shane McAdam was suspended for this hit on Jacob Wehr.

“There was no raised elbow. It was a bump primarily to the body. There was not significant head force. Jacob Wehr was in possession of the ball and continued to play out the game,” Tom Duggan said on behalf of the Crows.

“The classification of ‘severe’ (impact) was manifestly excessive.”

The suspension came after Melbourne's Kysaiah Pickett received a two-match ban for his hit on Bailey Smith, and Buddy Franklin was given a one-game ban for his hit on Gold Coast’s Sam Collins.

The Crows were said to be furious with the suspension.

On Wednesday, former Crows captain Mark Bickley 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.

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

Shane McAdam will miss the next three games for the Crows. (Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)

“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.”