By Damien Ractliffe
Collingwood will be without defender Brayden Maynard for the opening two matches of this season after the tribunal upheld his careless striking charge on Tuesday night.
The Magpie, represented by barrister Stephen Russell, argued he made a legitimate attempt to spoil GWS Giants’ Daniel Lloyd in a marking contest, and after his fist made contact with the ball, he pirouetted out of the contest to try and avoid further contact with the Giants forward.
Brayden Maynard collected Daniel Lloyd, pictured, high as he tried to spoil a mark late in the second quarter.Credit: Getty Images
But the tribunal, chaired by former AFL counsel Jeff Gleeson, was short and succinct in throwing out Maynard’s appeal.
“In approaching and affecting the contest in the way Maynard did, it could have been reasonably foreseen to strike Lloyd’s head,” Gleeson said.
The AFL, represented by Andrew Woods, contended that Maynard should have pulled out of the contest, knowing that any attempt to spoil would breach his duty of care to Lloyd.
“You’ll see Lloyd is in the air first. .. Maynard is slightly later in the marking contest,” Woods said.
“In my submission, it’s clear to Maynard there was going to be some form of contact with Lloyd given his momentum and direction of travel.
“Maynard owed a duty of care… while not intentionally trying to strike, on any view [his action was] careless and breached his duty of care.”
Both parties conceded that Maynard successfully spoiled the ball, but the AFL successfully argued his contact with Lloyd was careless.
Lloyd is set to miss 12 training days and one practice match under the AFL’s concussion policy.
“The spoil was effected with the ball, but an inevitable part there was going to be contact with Lloyd,” Woods said.
“[This] isn’t a charge of intention, this is a charge of carelessness.
“It was a careless action in the way he left the ground and the way his arm did contact [Lloyd].”
Russell said Maynard wasn’t defending the high impact or high contact components of the charge, but that his spoil was orthodox in the circumstances.
“[The AFL is saying] at the time he was approaching the contest he should have given up,” Wood said.
“We’re saying it was legitimate for him to spoil … and he did his best to try and get out of that situation. It was appropriate for him to attempt to spoil.”
Collingwood meet St Kilda and Adelaide in the opening two games of the season, but will welcome Jeremy Howe and Isaac Quaynor into their backline after both players missed Sunday’s AAMI Community Series loss to the Giants.
Former Cat Nathan Kruger will also miss round one after accepting his one-match ban for rough conduct against Callan Ward.
Kreuger was more badly hurt in his collision with Callum Ward than the Giants midfielder was. He is unlikely, under concussion protocols, to recover in time for round one anyway so the decision to accept the charge was straightforward.
Midfield recruit Patrick Lipinski, who suffered an ankle injury during the game, has been cleared of structural damage and will be fit for round one.
Taylor Adams and Brody Mihocek, who also missed the pre-season game, will be available to come back into the Magpies team for the first game against St Kilda on Friday, March 18.