Bombers confident of winning Shiel’s AFL ‘test case’
Roger Vaughan and Anna Harrington |
Dylan Shiel’s AFL tribunal “test case” has split opinion, while coach Brad Scott struggles to see how the Essendon veteran has a case to answer.
Shiel will front the tribunal on Tuesday night on an unusual rough conduct charge that was a direct referral, with the AFL to argue for a one-game ban.
At the heart of the hearing will be whether Shiel can be found guilty of an incident that affected his own teammate.
Shiel pushed Geelong’s Mark O’Connor in the back in Friday night’s match, causing a sickening incident in which Bombers youngster Luamon Lual catapulted over the top of the Cats defender and landed awkwardly on his neck and shoulder.
Lual had to leave the field in obvious distress, but was able to return before being subbed out of the game.
Bombers coach Scott, previously the head of AFL football operations, wondered post-match whether a player could be suspended for injuring a teammate.
In charging Shiel, the AFL noted that under the laws of the game he had a duty of care to everyone on the field – not just opponents.
On Tuesday morning, Scott said: “It seems like it’s a bit of a test case.
“It’s been ungraded and sent to the tribunal effectively. It looks to me like it’s just well, it’s a hard one for the MRO to come to a decision on, to they’ve sent it to the tribunal to get their opinion.
“We have a high level of confidence in our case, though.
“… The decision to me looks like ‘we don’t know either, so let’s give it to someone else to decide’.
“But the tribunal chair is appointed by the AFL, so I’m not sure they’re an independent body, to be honest, but that’s the way it’s set up.”
Scott noted Essendon had copped a “triple whammy” of punishment: a free kick, Lual’s injury and a tribunal case.
“So we’ve been penalised three times without the opposition actually being the victim, as far as I can see,” he said.
“… The Geelong player wasn’t injured. I struggle to see how’s there’s a case to answer, but again, I’m not a lawyer.”
GWS coach Adam Kingsley compared the incident to Richmond player Rhyan Mansell, whose three-game ban was upheld at the tribunal earlier this season for pushing St Kilda’s Liam O’Connell into a marking contest.
“I didn’t like the action. All the way to Rhyan Mansell earlier on in the season, it’s a similar-type act,” Kingsley told Fox Footy.
“It could have ended really badly, so the fact that it was his teammate who potentially could have gotten really badly injured – I guess, potentially, is the sticking point.”
But Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said Shiel’s intent was key.
“I don’t think he’s planning to push someone into his teammate. I see it the other way,” Beveridge said.
“Is he protecting the space for himself? If he is, let him off. But if they think that he’s pushed an opposition player … into someone else, then that’s a different thing. I can’t see it that way, looking at that (vision).”
Adelaide will also head to the tribunal to challenge veteran Rory Laird’s one-game rough conduct ban for a high bump, which currently rules him out of Saturday’s vital home game against Collingwood.
AAP
