West Coast star Elliot Yeo has criticised the hefty ban handed to Brisbane forward Charlie Cameron as “wrong”.
Eagles co-captain Liam Duggan was concussed after his head hit the ground during a tackle early in the second quarter of the Lions’ 13-point win at Optus Stadium on Sunday.
Cameron was charged with rough conduct by the Match Review Officer, who deemed it careless, severe impact and high contact, resulting in a three-match suspension.
The Lions star will face the Tribunal on Tuesday after the club elected to challenge the ban, with Yeo bewildered by the sanction.
“What is he supposed to do, put a pillow under his head?” Yeo said on 96FM.
“It’s such a fine line now. I understand that Duggy (Duggan) ended up having a concussion… but when we were out there, as players, we just thought ‘that’s just a normal tackle’.
“There’s no malice in it, there’s nothing at all. It’s just a bit of unfortunate bad luck.
“It felt like there were a few of them on the weekend as well, that were probably in the same vein as that.”
Greater Western Sydney will also challenge the ban handed to WA product Toby Bedford for a heavy tackle on Richmond’s Tim Taranto on Sunday.
Bedford will also face the Tribunal on Tuesday in a bid to overturn his three-match sanction.
Yeo said players were confused about the ruling, arguing Cameron’s tackle appeared to be “a genuine football action”.
“If you go half-hearted and you let them out of the tackle, it feels like you’d be deemed as soft and you’re open to scrutiny,” he said.
“It’s a very, very fine line at the moment and it’s very hard as a player to understand what warrants good tackle and what doesn’t.
“It seems like it’s more of an outcome-based type of thing rather than… that felt to me like it was a genuine football action.
“He didn’t slam his head in the ground, he didn’t do anything.
“Unfortunately he just fell because Duggy tried to shake the tackle… what is he supposed to do, let him out of the tackle?”
West Coast midfielder Tim Kelly echoed his teammate’s sentiment, admitting he was confused by the MRO’s findings.
“It didn’t look like there was anything too malicious in it,” Kelly told SEN.
“From most people’s perspectives, looking at it and certainly mine, it just looked like a bit of a bad accident.”
Brisbane midfielder Josh Dunkley admitted players would now go into tackles worried about the outcome, given the “perfect tackle” by Cameron resulted in a ban.
“He (Cameron) 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,” Dunkley said on Tuesday.
“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.”