By Scott Spits, Peter Ryan and Damien Ractliffe
In today’s AFL Briefing, your daily wrap of footy news:
- Hawthorn’s Day out for two over dangerous tackle
- Lever to miss for Melbourne against Dons
- AFL ‘comfortable’ on Lynch, McKay tribunal outcomes
- Hardwick on ‘harshly judged’ Tom Lynch
Will Day out for two over dangerous tackle
Scott Spits
Hawthorn’s Will Day is out for two matches after the AFL tribunal ruled his dangerous sling tackle on Easter Monday had “significant potential” for concussion or a facial injury.
Geelong’s Brad Close was uninjured after being slung head-first into the turf with his arms pinned, but the tribunal threw out Hawthorn’s argument that the incident should be classified medium impact instead of high.
Day will miss Hawthorn’s matches on the road against the GWS Giants (Norwood Oval) and Adelaide (in Launceston).
Will Day gets a kick away against Geelong.Credit: Getty Images
Hawthorn were only seeking to challenge the level of impact and had no problem with the careless conduct and high contact classification.
But AFL tribunal chairman Jeff Gleeson KC ruled that the risk of injury for Close was significant.
“Mr Day accepts that it was a dangerous tackle,” Mr Gleeson said.
“In our view the impact was high. The player’s arms were pinned and extent of the force was considerable.
“The vision shows that Day’s left arm applies additional downward force ... driving his head into the ground more forcefully than would otherwise have been the case.
“There was significant potential for a concussion injury here. There was also significant potential for a facial injury.”
In his evidence, Day said he tried to minimise the force of the tackle.
“I saw that his head was over the footy, so firstly I knew that I couldn’t bump to protect him,” he said.
“Also, seeing that he was quite low, I had to, myself, get even lower to protect his head and make no contact above the shoulders.
“With Brad’s momentum coming towards me, and while being off-balance, I wrapped him up. His momentum brought me back in the direction of the tackle.
“My aim was to try and roll him over, myself, in order to decelerate and take away some of that momentum.”
The Hawk said players are taught a technique to “roll” into a tackle and wear some of an opponent’s pressure instead of them going straight to ground.
But Day said he was unable to execute that technique in this case.
“I do identify that his head does hit the ground, so I was unable to do that in this instance.”
AFL counsel Sam Bird backed the high-impact classification.
“This tackle was inherently a dangerous action and had the potential to cause serious or significant injury to the player being tackled,” Bird said.
“The days where simply looking at the injury a player has sustained as a result of an incident on a football field are no longer. The guidelines make it very clear the consideration of potential is now front and centre.”
The incident in question.Credit: Channel 7 / Twitter
Meanwhile, Geelong opted against challenging the classification of Gary Rohan’s rough conduct charge and the forward has been suspended for one match.
Rohan’s sling tackle on Hawthorn’s Changkuoth Jiath returned a medium impact grading from the AFL’s match review officer Michael Christian.
The Cat was due to face the AFL Tribunal later on Thursday but Geelong announced it would accept the verdict.
Rohan will now miss Geelong’s match against the West Coast Eagles on Sunday at Adelaide Oval.
Lever to miss for Melbourne against Dons
Damien Ractliffe
Jake Lever has failed to overcome an ankle injury and is one of three outs for Melbourne in their clash against Essendon.
Lever, Michael Hibberd (managed) and James Jordon (sub) are all out from the side which beat the Eagles, and Adam Tomlinson will return, as well as key forward Ben Brown.
Will Snelling is in for the Bombers, with Alwyn Davey jnr rested and Sam Weideman injured.
Jack Riewoldt returns for the Tigers in their clash with the Swans, as does Ben Miller who has been pencilled in for the ruck duties, covering the injured Toby Nankervis.
Corey Warner will make his debut alongside brother Chad, while Hayden McLean and Matt Roberts have also been selected.
The Lions welcome back Daniel Rich and Darcy Fort for their match against North Melbourne, while Ben McKay and Griffin Logue return to bolster the Roos’ defence. Jack Gunston has been managed.
Cody Weightman will play his first game for the Dogs this season, against Port Adelaide who welcome Ryan Burton back from suspension.
Gary Rohan is out suspended - Geelong abandoning their tribunal appeal against his ban for a dangerous tackle.
Sam De Koning will be a welcome return in defence for that match against the Eagles, while Jed Bews will miss with injury.
Shannon Hurn (managed), Tom Cole (injured) and Elijah Hewett (omitted) will miss, while Alex Witherden is one of a number of Eagles named in an extended squad for that match on Sunday.
The Giants and Hawks have named extended squads for their match on Sunday, as have Collingwood and St Kilda, with the Pies naming Jack Ginnivan in an eight-man interchange. Tim Membrey has also been named for St Kilda in an extended bench.
AFL ‘comfortable’ on Lynch, McKay tribunal outcomes
Peter Ryan
AFL CEO candidate Andrew Dillon remains uncertain when a decision will be made on Gillon McLachlan’s successor but has no concern with the drawn-out process that started a year ago when McLachlan announced he was leaving.
Andrew Dillon, one of the candidates for the AFL CEO position being vacated by Gillon McLachlan.Credit: Getty Images
Dillon is among at least five candidates for the job, which also include fellow AFL executives Kylie Rogers and Travis Auld as well as Richmond CEO Brendon Gale. Western Bulldogs president Kylie Watson-Wheeler is also among the contenders.
Speaking at Norwood Oval ahead of Gather Round on Thursday, Dillon said he was happy for the commission to take the time they needed to make the decision.
“I think everyone who is in it is really comfortable with how it is going,” he said.
Dillon has been heading up football operations since Brad Scott left to join Essendon, with the position not to be filled until a new CEO is appointed.
His confidence in the AFL’s match review system also hasn’t been shaken by two verdicts being overturned at the tribunal this week, with Dillon saying this week’s cases of Richmond’s Tom Lynch and Carlton’s Harry McKay show the system works.
Lynch was sent straight to the tribunal on a rough conduct charge, meaning a suggested suspension of three or more matches by match review officer (MRO) Michael Christian. But Lynch was cleared by a tribunal hearing and avoided any ban.
“I am never disappointed because for me it’s more about the process and it’s a robust process that we have got in place,” Dillon said.
“Tom got to provide evidence and it was done in an open forum and everyone heard that and we were comfortable with that decision.”
McKay challenged his one-game ban, set by Christian, at the tribunal and was cleared of a striking charge.
“The MRO is a crucial part of the way we regulate the on-field behaviour of the players,” Dillon said. “But ... I am comfortable with the way the MRO is working. And the tribunal provides an opportunity for a player who has been charged to have their say.
“The system has been working well and [I am] really comfortable with it.”
Dillon also said a return-to-play program could be developed for Sydney’s Paddy McCartin, but the main focus was ensuring the 26-year-old recovered from the concussion he suffered last Saturday night against Port Adelaide.
The concussion was alarming as it was McCartin’s 10th at AFL level and occurred when his head hit the ground as he contested the ball. McCartin has told Swans officials he has had some symptoms but is feeling reasonable.
“There was a robust and rigorous process put in place for him to return from not playing [to get] back to the VFL, from VFL back into the AFL,” Dillon said.
“A process like that will be in place, but it has not been completely set out.”
With AAP
‘Sometimes he gets harshly judged’: Hardwick backs Tom Lynch
Peter Ryan
The split second nature of football decisions needs to be considered when assessing the culpability of players who make head high contact with opponents according to Tigers coach Damien Hardwick.
The triple premiership coach said he was surprised Tom Lynch had to front the AFL tribunal after Western Bulldogs opponent Alex Keath was concussed when he collided with the Tigers forward during a marking contest.
He joked that there were “three certain things in life, death, taxes and Tom Lynch going to the tribunal”.
“I think sometimes he gets harshly judged. He’s a combative person. We understand that. We love the way he plays the game and every now and then things are going to be line ball,” Hardwick said.
“Our game is played at breakneck speed and there are going to be accidents.
“[Lynch] does not go into that contest thinking I’m going to iron out Alex Keath. He goes into mark, misjudges the ball then he has got to protect himself.”
The moment in which Tom Lynch made contact.Credit: afl.com.au/Twitter
However the Richmond coach said he understood how difficult it was for the match review officer to make the calls he did and said the same discussion about what was reportable or not would happen forever.
Despite being cleared Lynch will miss three months with a broken foot as the Tigers look to revive their season after just one win and a draw in the first four rounds. He joins a long list of injured players at Richmond which includes co-captain Toby Nankervis, Jack Graham, Ivan Soldo, Josh Gibcus and Robbie Tarrant.
Hardwick backed Jack Riewoldt to play well, fresh after being rested last round.
“He’s old but he is important. He’s a very good player,” Hardwick said.
He thinks the Tigers can kick a winning score but admits their offence has been a weakness in recent rounds.
He said Noah Cumberland was an excitement machine and once he found cohesion inside 50 with Dustin Martin and Shai Bolton they would pose problems for the opposition. He also confirmed premiership skipper Trent Cotchin would start in the 22 after being last week’s sub.
Meanwhile, he appealed to the person who stole Bolton’s premiership medallions to return them, saying it made him angry that people would steal what someone had gained through hard work.
“It’s a sentimental thing and these are things that he worked incredibly hard to achieve,” Hardwick said. “We hope someone wakes up and says ‘you know what I have done the wrong thing and gives them back’.”
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