Play On – The Sam Powell-Pepper Hit

HB Meyers·
AFL Season 2024

How would you like to be Sam Powell-Pepper at the moment?

I mean, sure… I’d like an AFL salary, and I sure as hell could use his fitness base, but in terms of his actions in the match sim on Friday evening… he doesn’t have the best timing in the world, does he?

It was a Showdown – a watered down version of one, yes, but whenever Port and Adelaide lock horns, there is always a bit of genuine feeling. It isn’t the best rivalry in the AFL for nothing.

About halfway through the first quarter, Port were fighting their way into the contest after the Crows got the jump, and as Willie Rioli tackled Mark Keane in a slinging motion, Sam Powell-Pepper, coming the other way, collected him with a shoulder. And the cries for suspension commenced.

You know me by now… I side with the player under scrutiny 99 times out of 100. In a practice game, I am just not sold that Sam Powell-Pepper went out to hurt Mark Keane.

However, in the current climate, that not might not matter.

 

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    HB Meyers

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    15 Responses

    1. I think the problem HB, is that the AFL is big on duty of care, and I’m not sure that PP showed enough by running full pace at a guy being tackled. I may not agree with the AFL’s interpretation of duty of care, I am a footballer from the 80’s, but it is what is is in 2024.

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      1. I feel you, Ewan. Its a different world, at times.

        I reckon you could argue he was getting to the area where the ball ‘could have’ spilled. The slinging motion kind of tgrew a curve ball in there, as when SPP was on the move, Rioli was between him and Keane. No law against moving at speed toward your own teammate… yet!

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    2. I have to agree with everything he you’ve said HB, but I suspect SPP will get a suspension purely from an optics perspective.

      Here’s a question though…this was essentially a scratch match organised between the clubs with no official AFL affiliation at all. It was not listed anywhere on the AFL website as a fixture and I, as an international member, couldn’t even follow the scores online in the Port website let alone the AFL site. So how much jurisdiction can the AFL really have over a game they took no responsibility for prior to an incident occurring?

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      1. Good question, but everything ‘AFL’ BELONGS to the AFL. In these matches – which wouldn’t be allowed to take place without the AFL’s permission and imprimatur, and aren’t really ‘scratch’ matches as they’ve been organised well ahead of being played – the players are sporting the AFL logo on their jumpers, and the umpires are AFL umpires. My guess is that it means the AFL match review process is applied in full. As of this moment the (awful) AFL web site is saying the incident ‘will attract match review scrutiny’. That doesn’t mean it will go any further, of course, than a ‘scrutiny’.

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      2. It’s a good question, H.

        I believe the game was played with AFL umpires present, in accordance with their terms of employment. As such, it comes under their jurisdiction.

        If they can, they’ll suspend him for rough play, even though the bulk of the force came from the slinging motion by Rioli. May have saved Rioli a couple of weeks…

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        1. A good point about AFL logos on shirts and umpires. And I, of course, know the AFL would have jurisdiction, was really just a point to think about. I’m pretty sure if you get a ban in the SANFL you become AFL ineligible as well so I would have imagined it to essentially work the same way.

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    3. I’m with you HB – it’s play on but sadly the AFL legals will advise otherwise and another precedent will be born

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    4. So ultimately what you’re saying is, SPP will get weeks because the Melbourne footy club has a culture of recreational drug use.

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    5. Just read your excellent piece on Brayshaw and Thomas. But I’m not impressed with your argument here.

      “colliding with Powell-Pepper… the Port star tucked up… collision occurred… brace for impact… rugged, and hard-at-it player… sacrificed at the altar of concussion… very unfortunate… knock to the head… incredibly bad luck… a damn shame… wasn’t really his fault.”

      Lots of pejorative and emotive language above, plus a bit of sarcasm and a silly driving analogy. I’ve watched it over and over in slow-motion, and can’t agree with your version, not at all. It could have been avoided, that’s the first thing to say – and the kindest – about PP’s ‘football action’. PP is already going side-on as he enters the frame on the left, pushing his right shoulder forward. In the split second before he crashes into Keane’s head, he does a little ‘launch’ – watch his feet. Calling that ‘bracing for impact’ is ludicrous, as it would mean he’s ‘bracing for contact’ (usually a defensive action) with Keane’s head while moving forward with his own shoulder leading! Dear me. You’re making far too many excuses for a player that could see what was happening to Keane, who had no defence against PP’s shoulder. PP had time (not quite as ‘minuscule’ as you suggest) to stop and either wrap him up or protect himself with his hands if necessary. Careless, neglectful, reckless are the appropriate words. ‘Rugged and hard-at-it’ he may be, but it’s a worn-out cliché often used to defend unduly rough play.

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      1. Try not watching it in slow motion. It tends to lead people to believe players have a lot more time to plot/plan/scheme than they do.

        I take everything you say on-board, but when you’re breaking down half of one second of a play and adding SPP’s position of his shoulder going into the contest… I reckon you might be looking for a reason to hang him.

        Rest assured, he’ll be hanged. No need to slow it down to add and AFL prosecution-like explanation of his positioning. 🙂

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        1. JB, I’ve watched it at normal speed, too. And I’m sure you’ve watched it both ways. I’m not looking for a reason to ‘hang him’ any more than you’re looking for reasons to ‘play on’, as it were. I’ve observed the same footage, normal and slow-mo, as everyone else here, and simply concluded it was unduly rough play. The Match Review Officer has graded the incident as careless, severe impact and high contact and has recommended a ban of at least three weeks. I won’t comment on the penalty, but I think the evaluation of the indident is correct in this instance. BTW, doesn’t mean I have any confidence in the consistency of the MRO.

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          1. I have zero confidence in the match review system, but I do have some in the tribunal, strangely. I would actually prefer this, as the player has a chance to justify or explain his actions and how things that are unforeseen circumstances (player being slung into him) can impact the way he acted/reacted.

            That said, I am pretty sure if he gets let off, the AFL will appeal, as their desired outcome would be a suspension to be seen as though they are being tough on all blows to the head.

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        2. A gallows is being built in Federation Square right now. Lynching Port players seem to be their preferred form of entertainment.

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    6. I reckon Keane was stopping the Port forward momentum very well in the first ten minutes or so and SPP saw a chance to give him a touch up. Whether it was illegal or not is irrelevant to us mere mortals, the AFL will take him to task.

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      1. I have a tendency to believe you. He does have priors in making the oppo “earn” their possessions. Many have accused him in the past of being a sniper.

        Reply

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