Carlton star learns fate after ‘strange’ bump storm

The AFL’s argument has been tossed out during Tuesday night’s tribunal hearing into Carlton star Lewis Young’s blurry act.

Nick Larkey of the Kangaroos and Lewis Young of the Blues clash. Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Carlton’s Lewis Young is free to play this weekend after a tribunal tossed out the AFL’s arguments.

Young’s bump on North Melbourne’s Cameron Zurhaar has been another high-profile case of putting the bump on trial leading to another chorus of suggestions the bump is dead.

Tuesday night’s tribunal ruling showed the tackling technique still has a heartbeat.

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Young went to the tribunal after Carlton elected to challenge the one-week suspension offered by the AFL match review. He was charged with “careless contact to the body but of high force” — and it left the footy world more confused than ever about the bump’s position in the game.

Young’s hit on the Kangaroos rising star was a rib-cage rattling front-on hit that briefly forced Zurhaar to come from the ground after the force of the contact knocked him on his backside.

However, there was one key in the case that made it easy for the tribunal to clear Young — Zurhaar’s head wasn’t completely down and over the top of the loose ball.

Lewis Young had to deal with heavy contact from every angle. Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

That fact made all the difference as tribunal chairman Jeff Gleeson said Young’s bump could not be considered a reportable offence because the panel was not satisfied Zurhaar’s head was down at the point of contact.

“The jury finds that charge of forceful front-on contact is not sustained. In order for the charge to be made out, it was necessary that Zurhaar‘s head was not only over the ball, but that it was down over the ball,” Gleeson said.

“The reason for that language in the reportable offence is obvious - a player who suffers forceful front on contact when their head is down is at risk of a head or spinal injury. Having carefully reviewed the footage, we are not satisfied that at the moment of impact or immediately prior to impact Zurhaar‘s head was down.

“We accept the submission that the question of whether a player‘s head is down over the ball is a matter of degree. However, the footage shows that at the relevant time, Zurhaar’s head was not down in the sense required by the rule.”

Footy great Garry Lyon on Monday called the decision to charge Young “strange”.

“The bump is essentially gone,” Lyon told SEN Breakfast.

“I’m a subscriber to say that the bump’s not (gone), but if we’re penalising blokes for bumping too hard... it’s strange.”

Originally published as Carlton star learns fate after ‘strange’ bump storm