Carlton recruit Will Hayward is fighting to play in the Gather Round opener at the AFL Tribunal tonight. Live below!
The ex-Swan was handed a one-game ban for striking North Melbourne’s George Wardlaw, with his gut punch graded as intentional with medium impact and body contact.
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Follow David Zita’s live updates from the Will Hayward appeal below!
Sam Bird represented the AFL with Chris Townshend representing Carlton, in front of Tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson, and jurors Paul Williams and Shane Wakelin.
The Blues argued Hayward was not guilty with “three elaborations” saying the impact should be low not medium, and conduct should be careless not intentional, and if it’s found to be intentional it should not be appropriate to upgrade the impact to medium (as was done based on the new rules around gut punches).
Hayward pointed out he had played 184 games at Sydney without suspension.
“It’s my intention to close the space and apply pressure to the opposition to disrupt the kick. In doing so I reached with my forearm and… yeah,” Hayward said.
“Just getting physical contact on.
“It felt like any other tackle I’d make. We were both running at opposite directions so the force might’ve looked a bit larger but he was running towards me, I was running towards him, it was no different to any tackle I’ve done or felt before myself.”
Hayward was asked by Bird for the AFL: “You don’t say that was a swinging motion?”
He replied: “I’d need to look at it again, but more of a reach, and just trying to apply pressure.”
He added “based on the vision, it may look like” his fist was clenched and conceded Wardlaw was unable to protect himself.
“My only intention was to put pressure on. I don’t think the force was strong enough to knock him to the ground,” Hayward said.
“If you look at a lot of my vision and attempts to tackle, I am very, sort of, arms flying around everywhere.”
Bird for the AFL argued: “There was no legitimate football purpose at that point to making contact.”
Hayward responded: “I can’t see at the time of impact whether the ball has left his boot or not. During the time of contact, my intention was to disrupt the kick and put pressure on.”
Hayward said he would do the same thing if the situation happened again.
The AFL argued blow delivered to a vulnerable, unprepared player carries a greater capacity for harm than the same blow delivered to a player who’s braced and prepared for it.
They also said a clenched fist “is inherently capable of causing greater harm”.
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If Hayward is able to downgrade the conduct to careless or downgrade the impact to low, he will instead be fined.
That would see him eligible to face Adelaide on Thursday night at Adelaide Oval.
He was not the only player suspended for a gut punch this week, with Richmond’s Samson Ryan accepting his ban for what coach Adem Yze called a “silly” act.
The AFL has looked to crack down on gut punches this season.
A memo to clubs last December described the acts as “unnecessary, easily avoidable and having the potential to tarnish the reputation of Australian football”.
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