In short:
The debate over policing and penalties around tackling has fired up again, as three players seek to challenge three-match bans at the AFL Tribunal.
The Lions’ Charlie Cameron and the Giants’ Toby Bedford were banned for rough conduct in tackles, while Gold Coast’s Alex Davies was suspended for making forceful front-on contact.
What’s next?:
There are six matches left in the home-and-away season, and Cameron, Bedford and Davies will miss half of it unless they can overturn their suspensions.
AFL players have expressed frustration around the policing of tackling after Brisbane’s Charlie Cameron and GWS forward Toby Bedford were slapped with three-match bans for making “perfect” tackles.
Cameron, Bedford and Gold Coast midfielder Alex Davies are all challenging their three-match bans at the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday night.
Gun forward Cameron is due to miss crunch matches against Sydney, Gold Coast and St Kilda after he ran in to tackle West Coast’s Liam Duggan and drove the Eagles co-captain backwards.
Duggan hit the back of his head on the turf and was subbed out of Sunday’s game with concussion.
The incident was assessed as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact, drawing a three-match ban.
Brisbane teammate Josh Dunkley didn’t think Cameron could have done anything to change the outcome.
“It’s a tough one. I was right there as a player and I obviously didn’t know the outcome of what happened to Duggan, but I thought it was the perfect tackle,” Dunkley said on Tuesday.
“I was telling him, he was a bit rattled by it instantly, but I said, and the umpire, everyone was saying at the time that it was a perfect tackle.
“So it’s a very harsh penalty, but I mean, what do you do? It’s hard to know as a player these days.
“Personally I go into tackles now worried about what the outcome’s going to be.
“So you’re very hesitant in what you’re doing and I feel like that’s going to impact everyone across the competition because guys are going to potentially hold back a little bit, and I don’t know if that’s what we want.”
GWS are challenging Bedford’s rough-conduct ban, which was graded the same as Cameron’s.
Bedford pinned Tim Taranto’s arms in a fourth-quarter tackle and the Richmond midfielder’s head hit the ground as the pair fell forward.
Taranto appeared dazed when he got up and did not pass a concussion test.
Giants defender Lachie Whitfield expressed similar feelings to Dunkley.
“We’re all a bit shocked by the three weeks,” Whitfeld said. “When I read that … I was honestly astonished.
“We are trying to avoid the head knocks and the tackles and all that, and I understand that there’s a duty of care for the player, but there’s only so much you can do in (Bedford’s) situation.
“He’s done pretty much the perfect tackle and his whole body’s in the air, and he’s got momentum going through it and it’s just really hard for him to stop that when Tim was falling forward.
“I don’t really know what else you’re meant to do when you’re tackling from behind.”
Roos weighs in on tackle debate
Former Sydney Swans and Melbourne coach Paul Roos has also weighed in on the issue.
Speaking on the ABC’s AFL Daily podcast, Roos said he thought Cameron’s three-match suspension was too harsh.
“A fair tackle, three weeks? I thought maybe one week, because of the concussion [to Liam Duggan],” Roos said.
“What we are clear on now is that anyone who gets concussed in any sort of incident is going to be a week, minimum [for the tackler]. But three weeks? Have we given the players an opportunity to adjust?
“What is there, six games to go and that’s 50 per cent of the season [remaining] that Charlie Cameron will not be participating in, based on that tackle — are we comfortable with that?”
Roos went on to say that the new thinking was changing the understanding of football games.
“We don’t want players injured, but there’s still accidents in a game, it’s a physical game,” he said.
“I think we’ve taken out the concept of an accident (from the game) and we’ve taken out the notion that it is a physical game and sometimes players will get injured.”
There were two other suspensions in the round.
Gold Coast’s Davies was charged with forceful front-on contact after bumping Lachie Jones in the head while the Port player was bent over the ball.
The incident was classified as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact. Davies and the Suns are challenging the ban.
Davies’ Suns teammate Malcolm Rosas Jr has accepted a one-match ban for striking Logan Evans with an off-the-ball elbow.
AAP/ABC
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