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Sydney Swans skipper cleared for bump in surprise AFL Tribunal win

A Carlton player copped a ban at the AFL Tribunal but Sydney successfully overturned co-captain Dane Rampe’s two-match bump ban.

David Zita and Max Laughton
4 min read
July 18, 2023 - 9:12PM
The AFL Tribunal will sit on Tuesday night.
The AFL Tribunal will sit on Tuesday night.

Jordan Boyd has copped a three-week ban at the AFL Tribunal but Sydney successfully overturned co-captain Dane Rampe’s two-match bump ban.

The Swans successfully argued Rampe did not elect to bump Lachlan McNeil during Thursday night’s win over the Western Bulldogs.

McNeil suffered delayed concussion after the match, with Rampe’s rough conduct graded careless with high impact and high contact, resulting in a two-match ban.

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If unsuccessful, Rampe would have missed matches against Fremantle and Essendon.

Sydney’s representative Duncan Miller argued the collision “was a football incident, and was not due to any want of reasonable care on Rampe’s part”, and didn’t warrant a careless grading - and thus it should be thrown out.

Rampe said he saw Taylor Duryea (who had the ball) make eye contact with McNeil, so Rampe was on “high alert” as a defender and moves to close space with McNeil.

Asked if he had any intention to make contact with McNeil, Rampe said “absolutely none”, arguing McNeil turned into him as he attempted to get to the space outside of McNeil’s right shoulder, causing the contact.

The AFL’s Sam Bird asked Rampe whether McNeil was really a “realistic option” for the man with the ball to kick to in the moment.

“It absolutely was a realistic option,” Rampe said.

“The pass doesn’t go there, does it?” Bird asked.

“Because I did my job,” Rampe responded.

The Swans objected to multiple questions asking whether a player who was looking at the football, not an opponent behind him, was in a vulnerable position.

“I didn’t run in and make contact. There was no other option than to brace after he moved in and made contact with me,” Rampe said, also claiming he’d do the same thing again if given the chance.

Tribunal chair Renee Enbom said: “We find there was accidental contact between the two players which Rampe could not have reasonably avoided.

“We find McNeil turned into Rampe and contact occurred.

“Rampe did not initiate contact, he did not change direction to make contact with McNeil.

“As McNeil turned into Rampe and realised they were about to collide, Rampe reasonably braced for contact.

“In those circumstances, we dismiss the charge.”

Dane Rampe has been cleared to play. (Photo by Matt King/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)
Dane Rampe has been cleared to play. (Photo by Matt King/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

JORDAN BOYD CASE

Carlton’s Jordan Boyd was referred directly to the Tribunal for his tackle on Darcy Byrne-Jones, which left the Port Adelaide player concussed.

It was graded as careless conduct with severe impact and high contact, resulting in a direct referral with a recommended sanction of at least three matches.

In the end the Tribunal agreed with the impact grading, which was the only element contested by the Blues, resulting in a three-match man. Boyd will miss games against West Coast, Collingwood and St Kilda.

The Blues argued a collision between Byrne-Jones and Adam Cerra before the tackle was also a concussive event and thus Boyd’s incident should not receive such a sanction.

Dr Matt Chamberlain, the Blues’ medical chief, said the clash of heads between Byrne-Jones and Cerra was “significant” but conceded there were no immediate signs of concussion from that incident - with both players playing right through the knock.

Chamberlain said he could not definitively rule out Boyd’s tackle being the cause of Byrne-Jones concussion.

The AFL, represented by Sam Bird, also argued the potential to cause significant injury in the tackle is enough to blame the tackle over the Cerra knock.

The Blues also made a lengthy argument saying Byrne-Jones took his normal pattern of rotations, and took a long time to take a shot on goal minutes after the tackle because he’d been told to by Sam Powell-Pepper, seemingly to suggest he wasn’t showing signs of concussion.

They argued the impact grading should be medium, resulting in a one-match ban, while the AFL asked for three weeks.

Carlton pointed to a series of other incidents graded as severe, including Nathan Broad’s tackle from early in the season, and said Boyd’s was not as bad.

But in response the AFL pointed to the Shane McAdam incident from Round 1 which resulted in a three-match ban despite no concussion for victim Jacob Wehr, saying the concussion to Byrne-Jones warranted a lengthy suspension.

Tribunal chair Renee Enbom found: “We are satisfied on the balance of probabilities Boyd’s tackle caused the concussion.

“It is apparent from the vision of the incident that Byrne-Jones’ head hits the ground with significant force. We compared that vision to the vision of Byrne-Jones bumping heads with Adam Cerra.

“In our view, there was far less impact to the head in that incident compared to the contact that Byrne-Jones’ head made with the ground as a result of Boyd’s tackle.

“Dr. Chamberlain, the Chief Medical Officer at Carlton, gave some evidence in relation to the issue. He did not express a view as to the more likely cause of the concussion, nor did he compare the level of impact to the head involved in the two incidents.

“Whilst we are grateful for his evidence, it was of limited assistance to us in deciding the issue.

“We uphold severe classification. Both of the player’s arms were pinned throughout the tackle, which meant he could not use his arms to protect his head at all. Excessive force was used in the second part of the tackle, which resulted in the player’s head making significant contact with the ground. The significant head contact with the ground caused a serious injury, being a concussion.

“The fact that concussion was not evident immediately after the tackle is in our view not to the point. The fact is he did suffer a concussion as a result of the tackle.

“The last issue is the appropriate penalty. In our view, the appropriate penalty in this matter is three weeks, which is the base penalty.”

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Originally published as Sydney Swans skipper cleared for bump in surprise AFL Tribunal win

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Original URL: https://www.thechronicle.com.au/sport/afl/sydney-swans-skipper-cleared-for-bump-in-surprise-afl-tribunal-win/news-story/9490249ee2f28f43d793def460386833