On Tuesday night, the AFL tribunal upheld three-match bans for GWS player Toby Bedford and Brisbane Lions star Charlie Cameron.
Were the suspensions appropriate? Debate is raging in the footy world. Our divided experts have their say.
Malcolm Rosas runs past his opponent who is not contesting the ball, raises his elbow and collects Logan Evans in the head.
He will return to the Suns’ line-up in round 20.
Charlie Cameron and Toby Bedford lay tackles that leave their opponents concussed. No free kick is paid against Bedford, who looks distraught as he checks on a groggy Tim Taranto. We won’t see either playing until round 22.
Let’s use the Bedford tackle on Taranto to demonstrate why this penalty is so outrageous.
He chases his opponent, who gathers the ball from a stoppage, and leaps to tackle him, pinning both arms in a split second. Taranto’s head hits the ground, and he is concussed.
This means Bedford is in trouble, as the tribunal guidelines say Taranto will be considered vulnerable if the tackler pins both arms. That’s clear. We want to protect the head. Most would even cop begrudgingly a one-match suspension as luck is now more relevant than intent.
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But three?
Bedford’s options to avoid a three-match suspension are now clear.
They are:
- Let Taranto run away from him unless he gets into a position beside his opponent’s hips so he can drag him backwards. He is striving to win, for his club, his teammates, his coach, his members, his own career. The AFL is getting close to banning players tackling opponents from behind.
- As he is leaping, grab Taranto around the waist but keep his arms free allowing the Tiger to release a running teammate with a handball. That is what the AFL wants him to do as per the published reasons that “a reasonable player” would have realised by leaping at his opponent he was likely to drive him into the ground.
- As he realises he has both arms pinned, release one arm, as the AFL tribunal chair Renee Enbom suggested a “reasonable player” in Bedford’s position would do in the circumstances. That is impossible. Impossible. And even if he was able, by some miracle, to release Taranto’s top arm, it would have had no effect on the outcome. Actually, his head may have slammed into the back of Taranto as he shifted.
- Whack Taranto over the head as he leaves the contest to slow him down. At least he’d be back in round 20, like Rosas.
- Punch Taranto in a round-arm action in the guts to slow him down and risk a fine from the MRO, a la Zak Butters and the like.
A three-match suspension fails the pub, lounge room, kindergarten, nursing home, local footy, mothers’ group or any other test you want to apply.
We need to hear from the AFL Commission chair on this issue. It’s important.
It’s not often the AFL tribunal is applauded for the stance it takes, but it deserves plaudits for upholding the suspensions imposed on Bedford and Cameron.
The hysterical reaction over Tuesday night’s tribunal decision has been ridiculous, and the message to players, and to coaches, could not be clearer – tackle with a full duty of care in mind, or face the consequences.
There is now a line in the sand.
Stop with the excuses that it’s a “physical game”, and “split-second decisions have to be made”, and, in Bedford’s case, it was “laughable”, said commentator and Age columnist Kane Cornes on SEN on Wednesday, to think he had time to release one of Taranto’s pinned arms.
Yes, he did have time, and training – whether that’s adjusting the angle of momentum when falling to the turf or ensuring the tackled player is rolled over – needs to improve in this area. Bedford chose to dive at Taranto from behind. Bedford had Taranto’s arms pinned, the Tiger unable to brace when falling. Taranto’s head crashed into the turf. Bedford knew the risks.
Cameron, meanwhile, drove Eagles co-captain Liam Duggan into the turf with force. Duggan, too, had both arms pinned – there was nothing he could do as he fell and the back of his head hit the ground. Cameron said he intended to remain standing in the tackle. He didn’t. He could have attempted to release an arm. He didn’t. He now pays a price.
AFL great Luke Hodge now fears players will now be “too scared to tackle”. What rubbish. The game – like life – is about adjusting, or finding ways to do things better.
Underplayed in all this is that Duggan and Taranto were concussed and will miss weeks. To put it bluntly, each is dealing with brain damage. That is no laughing matter.
For Duggan, it was his second concussion within five weeks. That’s a major worry for him and his family. Of his earlier concussion after a collision with a teammate, Duggan said: “There was a little period there that is a bit ‘control-alt-delete’ – I don’t remember much until I was back in the change rooms.”
We have had Collingwood’s Josh Carmichael and Nathan Murphy, Melbourne premiership player Angus Brayshaw and Western Bulldogs draftee Aiden O’Driscoll all retire this season because of brain trauma.
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The AFL had to act. Yes, this must also be seen through the prism of litigation, where a class action looms large, although not all former players believe this is the best way to seek compensation for lives destroyed or impacted by head injuries.
The league knows it cannot be seen to be soft on tackles which cause injury. It’s now time for a major rethink for professional and community-based senior and junior players.
