If there is one thing made clear by the decision to suspend Jack Higgins for three game, it is that the AFL Tribunal and Match Review system is completely broken.
Over the past several weeks, we have seen similar actions handed no punishment, with Toby Greene (who I believe was rightly not cited for his tackle on Gold Coast younsgter, Mac Andrew) walking away without punishment, and Tom Barrass suspended for two weeks for his tackle on Michael Walters.
To add insult to injury, Charlie Cameron was allowed to have his charge for a dangerous tackle on Jake Lever downgraded on the basis of being a “good bloke” due to character references.
Bloody character references? I think Charlie is a great fella and a wonderful footballer, as well, but he had been cited five times prior to this. Anyone else who uses the same tactic and fails at the tribunal, is now assessed as someone of lesser character than Charlie in the eyes of those who make the decisions.
Not great.
Given these confusing, and let’s be honest, ridiculous series of decisions, I have to draw the conclusion that Toby Greene is a tremendous guy (until he got done for a bump in a marking contest), Charlie Cameron is a ripping bloke, whilst Tom Barrass is a complete prick, and Jack Higgins is the worst bloke in the game. The “good bloke” scale slides very quickly, doesn’t it?
In all seriousness, though, the inconsistency at the MRO level, and that of the tribunal is astounding. All the actions mentioned above are football actions. They were acts in play, as players fought for the footy in a contested ball situation. And we should mention the fact that Aliir heavily contributed to the momentum of his fall by throwing himself off balance in an attempt to kick the footy as he was tackled.
At the other end of the spectrum, we had Jesse Hogan landing one on the chin of Carlton defender, Lewis Young, and walking away without a suspension. Sure, it was a glancing blow, but it was a punch to the head (it’s sacrosanct… remember that?) that was 100 metres off the play, and the AFL ticked it off as okay.
So, in order to accurately assess why we are getting such wild fluctuations in punishments, we probably need to have a look at the tribunal itself.
Here are the current panel members of the tribunal. You ready for this?
Jordan Bannister – former Carlton/Essendon player and AFL umpire
Michelle Dench – former VWFL player and 10x All-Australian in the National Championships
Darren Gaspar – former Richmond and Sydney player
Wayne Henwood – former Sydney player. Also known as Moose
Jason Johnson – former Essendon player
Stephen Jurica – former Richmond player
Richard Loveridge – former Hawthorn player
Stewart Loewe – former St Kilda player. Also known as ‘Buckets’ due to lack of plumbing at his house.
Shannon McFerran – current VFLW player. May have also been the singer for ‘Don’t worry, be happy’
David Neitz – former Melbourne player
Talia Radan – former Adelaide, Melbourne, and West Coast AFLW player
Scott Stevens – former Sydney and Adelaide player
Shane Wakelin – former Collingwood, St Kilda, and Port Adelaide player
Paul Williams – former Collingwood and Sydney player
There ya go – just the 14 members. Add to that, there is the two tribunal chairs, Jeffrey Gleeson, and Renee Enbom. Both are Kings Council Barristers.
Names sourced from the AFL website
So, there is a group of 16 people trying to be on the same page in order to get the desired results for the AFL. I don’t know about you, but I cannot even get my kids to agree on what they want to eat for dinner, let alone get 16 people to have the same point of view on a range of offences in a game of footy.
For any given case, two tribunal members and one of the chairs sit down and deliberate on the evidence provided and statements made by players. What they come up with as a result may very well depend on which members of the panel sit on any hearing.
Now you see why there is no consistency?
Now, there has to be an understanding that when the AFL wish the tribunal to sit, some of the members might now be available – they all have lives and jobs, of course. But 16 of them?
Jack Higgins sits at home for the next three weeks as his Saints try desperately to turn around a season that has spiralled in recent weeks. He is doing so because the AFL has once again royally screwed the pooch on not only the decision to suspend Higgins, but the previous decisions not to suspend others for what was basically the same offence.
As someone who manages a site like this, I read a lot of social media posts and responses. One I have heard from a few people is that Higgins should have just “let go” of Aliir.
Yep… just let him go. Let him get his kick away. Let him have a disposal. Let him out of the tackle. That completely flies in the face of the fabric of the game.
Is this what the league wants? More importantly, is this what you, the people who put money into the coffers of the league, want? Without sounding like an old man yelling at a cloud yet again, we’re heading down a dangerous path. 15 years ago, if you showed players the Higgins tackle on Aliir, and told them he copped a three-game suspension for it, they would have laughed at you. What will the game look like in 15 more years?
There are incidents in the league that are clear-cut. You only have to look at Jimmy Webster’s hit on Jy Simpkin in the pre-season as an example of the actions the league should be cracking down on. Other actions – footy actions – like those of Higgins, Greene, Cameron, and Barrass need to be looked at with a degree of common sense.
And that might mean getting rid of the lawyers from the tribunal system. It might mean not showing the incident in super slow-motion, as it gives the impression that a player has far more time to make a decision than they actually did. And it might mean getting a regular cast of former players – a small group who can commit to being available to sit on the tribunal regularly, to ensure there is a consistency to the punishments handed down.
Supporters are frustrated. Players are frustrated. Coaches and clubs are frustrated. It’s not a great sign.
And if you ignore that frustration, the AFL will deserve what it gets.
Jack Higgins should appeal this travesty of a decision, and those in charge should be ashamed of themselves.
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