Izak Rankine suspension: Adelaide Crows forward learns his fate

Adelaide’s Izak Rankine has explained why the Crows went to the tribunal to try to downgrade his four-week ban, saying he is ‘deeply apologetic’ over the bump.

Adelaide star Izak Rankine said his appeal at the AFL Tribunal was never about clearing his ban but proving the intent wasn’t to hurt Brandon Starcevich.

Rankine was unsuccessful in his bid to have his four-game suspension for a high bump on Brisbane’s Brandon Starcevich reduced on Tuesday night.

Rankine was hit with a four-match ban for his off-the-ball bump on the Brisbane defender in the first quarter of the Crows loss.

The Adelaide star entered a guilty plea, but the Crows argued that Rankine had no intention in making the head high contact that concussed Starcevich and it should be instead graded as careless rather than intentional.

After the hearing, Rankine told 7NEWS he accepted the tribunal’s decision.

“Obviously disappointed in the result but I’ve been deeply apologetic to Starcevich,” he said.

“That’s what tonight was about, more to show the intention wasn’t there to cause any harm. I want to say sorry again to Starcs.”

During the hearing, Crows lawyer Andrew Culshaw said Rankine intended to bump Starcevich to the front of the body and if the Adelaide livewire actually executed the bump as he intended it to then it would be like ones that happen regularly in games.

“If the bump happened exactly as it was intended, was it rough conduct? If it was it might be the same bump you see 100s of times across the weekend, especially between tagger and taggee,” he said.

“It is something regularly that happens in the AFL, that the subject of attention puts a bump on their opponent.

“It is unremarkable, and not unreasonable to bump an opponent in that position.”

Culshaw also said Starcevich should have expected some sort of bump given the defensive job he was doing on Rankine, but what he and nobody else expected was the accidental clash of heads.

“The absence of any remonstration … this did not appear to be a big deal,” he said.

“What everyone thought they saw was two players colliding body on body, nobody quite realised at the time that there was a clash of heads.”

Counsel for the AFL, Andrew Woods, said Rankine’s bump was “unreasonable in the circumstances” and “not restrained in an way”.

“This is such a long way from being lawful conduct and it is precisely the conduct that the rules seeks to stamp out,” he said.

Izak Rankine’s four-game ban has been upheld. Picture: Mark Brake/Getty Images.

He argued Rankine launched at the Lions defender “with some force”.

“One of the things you need to take into account is the distance in which this occurs away from the ball,” he said.

“He clearly intended to bump, all of his body language makes it clear.

“Even if it is to be said there was no intention to bump high … the guideline says you take a risk if you choose to bump.

“What does the player’s body language tell us about his intention and when you look at it from the angles you can be comfortable that he intended to bump Starcevich high, hard and some distance away from the ball.”

Tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson said it was the view of the Tribunal that Rankine “moved low and in an upward motion” and it was intentional rough conduct.

Tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson said Rankine “moved low and in an upward motion” and it was intentional rough conduct, upholding his four-match ban.

“Both players were running in the same direction, and Starcevich was not expecting forceful contact. He had no reason to expect that he would be bumped,” he said.

“The issue is whether Rankine intended to commit the reportable offence of rough conduct. In our opinion, it is clear that Rankine intended to engage in conduct which was unreasonable in the circumstances.

“It was not reasonable to stop and forcefully bump Starcevich when Rankine must have known Starcevich was not expecting to be bumped.”

Adelaide head of football Adam Kelly said the club accepted the decision.

“Tonight was never about seeking to have Izak cleared and that’s evidenced by the fact that he pleaded guilty to the charge of rough conduct. Izak is remorseful for his actions and has apologised to Brandon,” Kelly said.

“It was about attempting to prove to the tribunal that it was never Izak’s intention for the consequence of his bump to be anything like what unfortunately occurred, and to that end, his actions were not intentional but careless.

“We accept the tribunal’s decision and Izak will look to finish the season strongly when he returns in four weeks.”

Rankine will miss games against St Kilda, Essendon, Hawthorn and Geelong.

RANKINE TO APPEAL BAN AT TRIBUNAL

— Matt Turner

Adelaide will argue Izak Rankine’s bump on Brandon Starcevich should be graded as careless, rather than intentional, as it tries to have his suspension reduced to three games.

The match review officer handed the Crows star a four-match ban for the off-the-ball collision, which led to the Lions defender being subbed off with concussion during the first term of the game on Sunday.

Rankine will plead guilty and emphasises his contrition for the incident at the tribunal on Tuesday night.

Izak Rankine hit on Lions Brandon Starvevich

But the club believes the incident should have received a careless grading.

Match review officer Michael Christian deemed it to be intentional conduct, high contact and severe impact.

Crows football boss Adam Kelly said Rankine was remorseful.

“While Izak had no intention of making head high contact that resulted in the injury, it obviously did occur and that is not being contested,” Kelly said.

“We believe however that a careless grading is more befitting of the incident.”

If the suspension was not reduced, Rankine would not return until the round 22 home game against the Western Bulldogs.

Originally published as Izak Rankine suspension: Adelaide Crows forward learns his fate