Giants to appeal Toby Bedford ban again ahead of elimination final against St Kilda

The Giants are leaving no stone unturned to get Toby Bedford off his one-game ban ahead of their elimination final against the Saints.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 27: Toby Bedford of the Giants kicks whilst being tackled by Oliver Hollands of the Bluesduring the round 24 AFL match between Carlton Blues and Greater Western Sydney Giants at Marvel Stadium, on August 27, 2023, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

The Giants will appeal the one-match ban handed down to small forward Toby Bedford.

Bedford appeared at the tribunal on Tuesday to dispute a rough conduct charge following a bump on Carlton’s Zac Fisher in round 24.

The Giants were confident in their case, arguing that any contact Bedford did make was closer to negligible than forceful. Fisher also appeared to give evidence supporting Bedford and the Giants.

However, the panel delivered a verdict that the contact was in fact forceful and decided the ban should remain – meaning Bedford was ruled out of the Giants’ elimination final against St Kilda.

“It’s disappointing, we thought we had a pretty compelling case towards that,” Harry Himmelberg said on Wednesday.

“In footy, it is what it is. You have to move on pretty quickly, next one up. We’ve got guys that are pushing for selection this week that are ready to go as well.”

Toby Bedford at Giants training on Tuesday. Picture: Phil Hillyard

The club took its time considering grounds for appeal, with the original deadline of 12 pm on Tuesday being pushed back a further three hours.

However, with so much on the line, the Giants have opted to appeal the Tribunal’s decision.

Bedford has been a standout in the GWS forward line this year since his pre-season move from the Demons.

He has become the number one forward in the competition for pressure acts and is in the top two for tackles and tackles inside forward 50.

Bedford also missed the round 22 against Port Adelaide through suspension – and the Giants struggled without the forward pressure that he and Brent Daniels contribute.

“He’s come in and had a huge impact,” Himmelberg said. “He’s definitely a big out for us on the weekend.

“From the day he got here, you could tell he was hungry to play. His pressure, his skills and his speed, it was something we really needed. It’s something that’s helped our forward line become really good.”

BEDFORD BAN UPHELD AT TRIBUNAL

As it stands, Toby Bedford will miss the Giants’ elimination final against the Saints on Saturday.

Bedford was cited for a bump on Carlton’s Zac Fisher in the third quarter of last Sunday’s clash. The incident was graded as careless conduct, medium impact and high contact.

GWS’ representative Ben Ihle argued that there was a significant burden of proof for the Tribunal to find that if there was high contact, that it was nothing more than negligible.

As part of their strategy, the Giants also used Fisher as a witness with the Carlton player giving evidence to suggest the only contact he felt was to his front and shoulder.

He also confirmed that the reason why he was on the ground for some time was because he had not braced himself sufficiently for the bump.

Toby Bedford will miss the Saints clash. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Fisher also stated that he did not immediately come from the ground and also had time to throw in a dig at his Coleman Medal-winning teammate.

“I went forward and got a disposal,” Fisher said. “Charlie (Curnow) dropped a sitter, that was disappointing.”

However, the Tribunal found that while Fisher was not trying to help Bedford in his evidence, his lack of clear memory of the incident had to come into account.

As a result, they relied more heavily on the footage of the bump, with vision and stills both showing Bedford’s shoulder making contact with Fisher’s head.

The AFL also showed footage of Fisher feeling his jaw after the clash – an action the Carlton player stated he didn’t remember doing because he was in any pain.

Counsel for the AFL, Lisa Hannon, argued that the way Bedford approached the contest was unreasonable and that he had other options than to bump in the manner he did.

The Giants differed, claiming that two umpires were in the perfect position to call an infringement but did not do so during the game.

“AFL football is still a contact sport where bumping is permitted,” Ihle said. “There are two umpires with a clear line of sight to the bump, neither of them awarded a free kick.

“This was a reasonable football action.”

Blue Zac Fisher presented evidence at the hearing. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

GWS also submitted the report of a biomechanist to emphasise that any movement of Fisher’s head was not from high contact, but rather the force of a collision which only one player was expecting.

The discussion then turned to the interpretation of the word forceful in the context of a bump in relation to the Tribunal guidelines.

The Giants were successful in asking for the Tribunal to consider that any high contact must be found to be forceful, and not simply “more than negligible”.

Following over 40 minutes of deliberation, the Tribunal found that the contact was still forceful between Bedford and Fisher.

“We reject submission that it was outside the control of Bedford,” Tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson said. “The way in which Fisher’s body moved was foreseeable.

“We are satisfied this was medium impact. The speed and force involved meant there was potential to cause concussion.”

Originally published as Giants to appeal Toby Bedford ban again ahead of elimination final against St Kilda