Brisbane has suffered a double loss at the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday night, with two bans upheld to create a critical Lions void for their blockbuster clash this weekend.
Harris Andrews – suspended three matches for striking – and Darcy Gardiner – banned one game for striking – were both unsuccessful in having their sanctions overturned.
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It leaves a rather large void in defence, with the Lions set to now scramble to cover for triple All-Australian Andrews and the versatile Gardiner.
After being an emergency last week, Darragh Joyce shapes as a near-certain inclusion, but the Lions still figure to go into a box-office meeting with the Swans on Saturday undersized, needing to combat Charlie Curnow, Logan McDonald and Joel Amartey.
Andrews was hit with a three-match sanction for striking Bulldogs forward Arty Jones last Saturday, with his act – which concussed Jones – initially assessed by the Match Review Officer as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact.
After a two-hour hearing, Tribunal chairperson Jeff Gleeson declared Andrews’ act was “clearly a careless strike”.
That came despite Brisbane’s argument that Andrews’ strike was a shepherd, with the triple All-Australian subjected to an hour of questioning from both sides.
The bulk of the AFL’s argument revolved around whether Andrews knew that Jones had lowered his body position before the Lion went to, in his words, shepherd.
“Andrews did not know precisely where the ball was when he threw his arm back, but he knew it was close by,” Gleeson said in his reasoning.
“Andrews’ assumption that Jones would have remained upright or sufficiently upright at the moment he made contact with his swinging arm was not reasonable.
“Given that Andrews knew that the ball was loose and knew that Jones was moving towards the ball, a reasonable player would assume that it was likely, or at least highly possible, that Jones would bend down or be in the process of bending down to pick up the ball.”
Keep scrolling for Gleeson’s full reasoning.
Andrews said during almost an hour of evidence: “It’s a very unfortunate accident … I believe I took care, seeing Jones on his feet. Unfortunately, I’ve made contact with his face.”
Andrews added separately in submissions: “I pride myself as a fair player and someone who looks out for the duty of care for all players on the field at all times, I did absolutely feel a bit of remorse.”
Earlier, in the first of the two hearings, the Lions failed to have Darcy Gardiner’s one-match striking ban overturned after trying to argue his contact to Aaron Naughton’s head was not of sufficient force to constitute a reportable offence.
However, Tribunal chairperson Gleeson declared the force was “more than negligible”, leading him to uphold the MRO’s initial grading of careless conduct, medium impact and high contact.
While Gardiner will just miss against the Swans, Andrews will miss upcoming Lions fixtures against St Kilda and Collingwood.
Brisbane had already accepted Zac Bailey’s one-match ban for striking the Bulldogs’ Michael Sellwood in the third quarter last Saturday.
The absence of Andrews, Gardiner and Bailey compounds the calf injury to star midfielder Hugh McCluggage, who’ll miss at least the Swans blockbuster at the SCG.
Recap David Zita’s coverage of tonight’s hearings in the blog below!
“Get that out of the game. I think it’s absolutely three weeks; could possibly have been more,” four-time flag-winner Jordan Lewis said of Andrews’ hit On the Couch on Monday night.
“I think this is a bad look for the game. Whenever a player is on the ground, players have unbelievable awareness – he knows exactly where Arty Jones is.
“He even has a sneaky look. So, a swinging arm is absolutely careless.”
Geelong assistant coach Nathan Buckley, meanwhile, said he didn’t think Andrews knew exactly where Jones’ head was.
“I don’t think he could understand where Jones’ level was … he doesn’t know that Jones is going down to the ball,” said Buckley.
“I think the swinging arm is deliberate, (but) I don’t think for any stretch that Andrews thought he was going to collect him in the head.
“If you choose to swing, then you’ve got to be accountable to the outcome, and he will be, but I don’t think for a moment that he was intending to hit him in the head.”
As for Gardiner’s forearm to the jaw area of Naughton, triple premiership forward Jack Riewoldt believes the Brisbane defender is “extremely lucky that it is only one week”.
“At no point did he ever put eyes on the ball, or make a play for the ball. That is crass,” he said on Fox Footy’s On the Couch.
Brisbane already accepted a one-match ban handed to Zac Bailey for striking the Bulldogs’ Michael Sellwood in the third quarter.
The absence of Andrews, Gardiner and Bailey compounds the calf injury to star midfielder Hugh McCluggage, who’ll miss at least the Swans blockbuster at the SCG.
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