Carlton captain Chris Judd will head to the AFL Tribunal. Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/roger-the-sheep/
Carlton captain Chris Judd is headed directly to the tribunal after Match Review Panel chairman Mark Fraser said his behaviour was both unsportsmanlike and a bad reflection on the game.
Judd has been accused of a “chicken-wing” tackle on the Kangaroos Leigh Adams in the first term, pulling the Roo’s arm up behind his back as Adams lay defenceless, face-down in the Etihad turf, pinned there by another Blue. Adams spent 12 minutes off the ground having the dislocation attended to, then finished the game with the shoulder packed in ice after another hit forced him from the ground for the remainder of the game.
The action has caused a firestorm in AFL circles, with many referring to his previous walks on the wild side – his elbow on Steven Baker, his eye gouging of Campbell Brown, his elbow to the face of an entirely innocent Matthew Pavlich, his utterly bizarre “pressure points” attack on the head/eyes of Michael Rischitelli, and now this.
That’s a fair rap sheet for one of the game’s modern champions.
The MRP has clearly – for once – felt the prevailing sentiment and sent the case directly to the tribunal, after considering the options of grading it as rough conduct or sending it to the tribunal as misconduct.
“We had a discussion amongst the panel about whether it was rough conduct or misconduct and we decided this would probably be best served under misconduct,” Fraser told AFL.com.au.
“We thought it was unsportsmanlike in nature. It has the potential to bring the game into disrepute so we thought it would be better served by sending it straight to the tribunal for a verdict.”
Ironically, Judd slipped to third pick in the stellar 2001 draft after concerns over his heavily-strapped shoulders.
North Melbourne’s medical report revealed that Adams’ shoulder had in fact been dislocated by the act. Judd now cannot lodge an early guilty plea because of the Match Review Panel’s decision.
In other incidents, Kangaroo Jack Ziebell has been offered a three-match ban for engaging in a level-three rough conduct offence with Carlton’s Aaron Joseph. His sentence cannot be reduced due to a previous poor record.
Another Roo, Nathan Grima has been offered a reprimand and 93.75 demerit points for a level two striking charge on Nick Duigan.
Sam Wright has been charged with a level-one rough conduct offence against Mitch Robinson and can accept the same as Grima. Bomber Jake Carlisle can also accept reprimand and 93.75 points for a level-one rough conduct charge on Paul Stewart.
Gold Coast’s Danny Stanley has been charged with a level-two engaging in rough conduct offence against Richmond spearhead Jack Riewoldt and he can accept a one-match sanction with an early plea.
Lion Daniel Rich pushed St Kilda’s Clinton Jones into the fence at the Gabba on Saturday Night and for that he can accept a two-match sanction with an early plea with the charge classed as a level-three rough conduct offence. Daniel Merrett has also been sanctioned for one week with an early plea for a level-two charging offence against Saints skipper Nick Riewoldt.
West Coast Eagle Patrick McGinnity has been hit with a reprimand and 93.75 demerit points to his record if he accepts the early plea for a level-one rough conduct offence with Swan Ryan O’Keefe.
Other incidents assessed included the match day report against Joel Corey for engaging in rough conduct with Collingwood’s Jarryd Blair; the contact between Blue Michael Jamieson and Roo Drew Petrie on Friday Night; contact between Tiger Trent Cotchin and Gold Coast’s Josh Hall; contact between match-winner Karmichael Hunt and Richmond’s Bachar Houli and contact between St Kilda’s Nick Riewoldt and Lions defender Jed Adcock, but all of these were dismissed.
