Essendon veteran Dylan Shiel and Adelaide star Rory Laird both front the AFL Tribunal tonight, contesting rough conduct charges. Live below!
Shiel and the Bombers are having their case heard first before the Crows seek to have Laird’s one-match bump ban thrown out at 6pm EST (estimated).
Laird is seeking to be available for the Crows’ blockbuster Saturday night clash with Collingwood.
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Shiel was referred directly to the Tribunal for a “dangerous” pushing act that led to a scary collision with teammate Luamon Lual at Kardinia Park.
In a marking contest on the wing, Shiel shoved Geelong’s Mark O’Connor into the pathway of Lual — who was running back with the flight — as the young Bomber was tunneled and flipped backwards.
Renee Enbom KC was Tribunal chair with David Neitz and Darren Gaspar on the panel, with Ben Ihle KC representing Essendon and Nick Pane KC representing the AFL.
The Essendon medical report found Lual was assessed immediately and taken into the rooms for jarring his lower back, before being deemed able to return.
Shiel said he only realised he could be in trouble when he was driving home from the game.
“I just remember tracking the footy, knowing I had O’Connor there in front of me, and what I was trying to achieve was being in the best position to mark the ball against a taller and bigger opponent and at worst case if I could get him under the ball and protect the drop zone, I would then be able to win the footy on the ground,” he said.
“I saw my teammate was getting assessed, and I just asked one of the staff on the bench, how did he get hurt? And he said, in the marking contest with you. I was like, I have no idea about that and how that happened.”
He thought he was going to be in a one-on-one marking contest and didn’t want to allow O’Connor to have a run and jump at the ball, instead making contact to push O’Connor into what he thought was clear space.
Shiel conceded he pushed O’Connor though disputed whether it was in the back, eventually arguing it was in the side.
Pane representing the AFL suggested Shiel would have seen other players approaching the contest at least in his peripheral vision, but Shiel said he had eyes on the ball.
“I thought I was pushing him under the ball,” Shiel said.
The AFL argued the rough conduct rules meant players had a duty of care to all other players, regardless of the team.
They argued Shiel’s actions went beyond that of a reasonable player due to the force of the push, and because the push was in the direction of the path of the ball and oncoming players.
“Shiel should have expected he and O’Connor would not be the only two players in the vicinity of the ball,” Pane said.
“My submission is it was reasonably foreseeable that pushing O’Connor in the manner he did would lead to forceful and dangerous contact between O’Connor and the other players contesting the ball.
“The push of a player into the path of oncoming players is inherently dangerous and brings with it a high potential for injury.”
Pane for Essendon argued there were five reasons the incident wasn’t reportable:
1) Other players had cleared out of the space initially
2) Shiel’s eyes were on the ball until after push
3) Shiel trained to protect the drop zone, football act
4) O’Connor not pushed into contest, he was pushed down the wing
5) There is no high contact to O’Connor
They also argued the “spirit and intention” of the rough conduct rule only involves conduct against an opposition player.
“It is clear the intention is the protection of opposition players, and therefore the invitation the AFL has extended to look beyond O’Connor and look at the incidental consequences of Shiel’s conduct is misconcieved,” Pane said.
“This is a situation the rules do not cover.”
Pane said given all of that, the actual incident with O’Connor was “not sufficient to warrant a charge” and “at worst a fine”.
‘The danger of that is extraordinary!’ | 01:08
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The Shiel act went ungraded as a rough conduct charge, with the Match Review Officer stating the AFL recommended a one-match ban, citing O’Connor as the ‘victim player’.
“The AFL’s view is that a suspension of one match is the appropriate penalty having regard to both the impact to O’Connor and the significant potential that Shiel’s teammate, Luamon Lual, could have suffered a serious head or neck injury arising from Shiel’s unreasonable conduct, which caused Lual’s head and neck to make contact with the ground with force,” the statement read.
During last Friday’s Fox Footy broadcast, Demons great Garry Lyon called for a suspension as Shiel’s warranted punishment.
“That’s dangerous by Dylan Shiel. Fine, suspended, whatever you want, there. I think that’s a suspension,” Lyon said.
“This is what we talk about with tunnelling and pushing players into contests — this is why we get up in arms about it.”
Lyon post-game added: “Greg Swann is sitting at home (saying) ‘enough of that, stamp it out’. Give him one or two weeks. You can’t go pushing blokes like that. The danger of that is extraordinary. Make a stand now.”
Meanwhile, Laird was offered a one-game sanction for bumping West Coast’s Jamie Cripps last Sunday; an act graded as careless with medium impact and high contact.
If the Crows do not successfully challenge the ban, he will miss Saturday night’s blockbuster clash with Collingwood.
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