Local footy league agrees with Supreme Court and allows former Collingwood, Sydney player Jesse White to play in finals

A former AFL player in an SA amateur league has beaten a suspension and will play on Saturday and the finals, after the local league bowed to the Supreme Court. See the incident.

Former AFL player Jesse White will be free to play for Broadview today after the Adelaide Footy League upheld the Supreme Court decision to quash his ban.

On Friday night, the tribunal upheld Auxiliary Justice Tilmouth’s decision to overturn the ban, which Mr White had initially accepted. The Advertiser had on Thursday revealed the league would re-charge Mr White with striking.

The decision means Mr White will be eligible to play finals, as the former Collingwood and Sydney forward only needed to play one more game to qualify.

Adelaide Footy League chief executive John Kernahan said the league had suspended one-match of Mr White’s ban in line with Justice Tilmouth’s findings.

“The AdFL doesn’t have a view outside of respecting Justice Tilmouth’s findings and or reasonings and the league has acted on them by convening a tribunal expeditiously,” Mr Kernahan said.

However, he said the outcome was “demoralising” for the league.

“We don’t find any joy in this at all,” he said.

“It is demoralising at every level when an association is at loggerheads with one of its member clubs, particularly in a court of law.

“Though curiously we can empathise with Broadview’s efforts to have the penalty reviewed given Jesse’s well credentialled value to the Broadview Football Club.”

Mr Kernahan said the league would work with all 67 clubs “to identify pathways to avoid this in the future because we’re quite sure that outside of Supreme Courts and tribunals, our clubs are our true judges.”

In his judgment, Auxiliary Justice Tilmouth said that based on the evidence presented, “Mr White was denied procedural fairness, in that the Tribunal did not disclose, in advance of submissions on penalty, the details of Mr White’s playing record”.

“This error was potentially compounded by asking Mr White directly to explain the player history,” he said.

“Just why it was not produced in advance of open Tribunal during the sentence hearing remains largely unexplained.”

HOW THE EVENT UNFOLDED

A former AFL player took his three match ban for elbowing an opposing player to the Supreme Court in a desperate bid to be eligible for the finals of an amateur football league.

Jesse White was suspended for three games for striking an opposing player while playing for Broadview in the Division Two competition of the SA Amateur Football League.

Collingwood Training

He has already served sat out two of the games, but if he sits out the third, the final game of the season this Saturday – he will be left ineligible for the finals.

Sam Abbott QC, for Mr White, told Supreme Court Auxiliary Justice Sydney Tilmouth his client was applying to have the decision of the league’s disciplinary tribunal quashed.

Mr Abbott said Mr White was denied procedural fairness when the Tribunal took into account a disciplinary history sourced from a website which showed the former Collingwood Magpies and Sydney Swans player had been fined for misconduct.

He said Mr White played 280 games “at the highest levels” across a 13 year career which included AFL, VFL and SANFL.

Mr White had told the tribunal he had no previous disciplinary issues and when shown the new documents said he had no knowledge of the fines.

“These were not allegations which bought him before a tribunal, they were fines which may very well have been paid by the club without Mr White’s knowledge,” Mr Abbott said.

“Put in criminal parlances it is like a record of previous convictions was produced before sentence and the accused did not agree with them but he was sentenced anyway.”

Still from footage of an incident which resulted in Broadview player Jesse White receiving a three-game suspension. Picture: Supplied.

Still from footage of an incident which resulted in Broadview player Jesse White receiving a three-game suspension. Picture: Supplied.

Still from footage of an incident which resulted in Broadview player Jesse White receiving a three-game suspension. Picture: Supplied.

In an affidavit read partially to the court, Mr White adamantly denied paying any fines for misconduct.

Mr Abbott said the tribunal incorrectly concluded that Mr White had been lying about the previous incidents and refused to suspend any of the punishment.

Because of the success of Broadview this season, Mr White is standing to lose at least two match fees if he misses the finals.

Jesse White of the Magpies scores a goal during the Round 2 AFL match between the Richmond Tigers and the Collingwood Magpies in 2017. Picture: Tracey Nearmy.

Mr Abbott asked the court to overturn the initial ban and remit it back to the tribunal for another decision.

Paul d’Assumpcao, for SAAFL, said asked the court to dismiss the application – saying that even if the previous misconduct had been taken into account, it would not have made a difference to the ban.

“Even if there was a hiccup along the way, it would not have changed the outcome,” he said.

“The decision maker does not need to give a running commentary and the point about the previous misconduct was not taken any further and they did not deliberate on it.”

Justice Tilmouth will hand down his decision on Thursday afternoon.

Originally published as Local footy league agrees with Supreme Court and allows former Collingwood, Sydney player Jesse White to play in finals