News AFL Tribunal appeals board upholds Houston's 5 Week Suspension

[CrowFan77]

Even if the AFL manipulate the tribunal down to 3 weeks, if Port win in week 1, Houston wouldn't be available until the GF. You wouldn't play a guy in a GF who hasn't played for 5 weeks would you? Surely not!

 

[Rabish Binney]

Yeah, and when Aliir and Jones went down in your showdown your feral supporters made plenty of noise, I was sitting in some of your premium seating so not like they were GA bottom feeders either.
Theres good and bad in all.

I was talking specifically about the pre game talk

My point was that nothing was made of the comments by Wines, Byrne Jones and Burton last year. Yet Rachele's comments were widely condemned. Isn't this somewhat hypocritical?

I've already said on here that I don't like the trash talk rubbish before the game by players. Just sets them up to fail.

I do agree with you that neither sides supporters can take the high moral ground. Every club has their dickheads.

 

[Duckimus Prime]

My point was that nothing was made of the comments by Wines, Byrne Jones and Burton last year. Yet Rachele's comments were widely condemned. Isn't this somewhat hypocritical?

Plenty was made about it. And they were also called out for the fact that they didn't perform after making the comments.

Although Burton, Wines and DBJ were talking about the football club, not the supporters.

Hypocritical would be whinging about Rankine getting the same treatment as the Port players did.

 

[Rabish Binney]

Plenty was made about it. And they were also called out for the fact that they didn't perform after making the comments.

Although Burton, Wines and DBJ were talking about the football club, not the supporters.

Hypocritical would be whinging about Rankine getting the same treatment as the Port players did.

The Chardonnay Set was mentioned by on of them. So they did talk about the supporters.

Personally I don't give a toss about what we are called. IMHO its football banter between the supporters.

 

[Consolaçao]

Fairly clear cut this one.
Elected to bump. Knocked him out. Suspension.
Probably only 3 weeks though. Can't miss a potential grand final for that.

What’s all this about a potential grand final? This is Port.
A four week ban will see him back in round 2 next year.

 

[crows dude]

But if Rankine has the ball and he bumps him in the chest and Rankine gets knocked out by his heading hitting the ground, that is allowed isn't it?

No it’s not. If you choose to bump and the player is subsequently knocked out then you get games.

 

[Macca19]

Yeah, and when Aliir and Jones went down in your showdown your feral supporters made plenty of noise, I was sitting in some of your premium seating so not like they were GA bottom feeders either.
Theres good and bad in all.

Correct. They also cheered and jeered when Sloane ironed out Dangerfield in their last finals win and gave him a mozz as he came off the ground. The projection and hypocrisy is hilarious.

 

[WheelAndDeal]

Seems like there is a rule now of you can't hit players too hard then. What happens if a player is pushed over and they get concussed?

Seen a few people saying this but no one has provided an example where it's happened. Just a silly hypothetical

Houston elected to bump instead of tackle, got it wrong and KO'd the bloke. End of story.

 

[Paul Kersey]

Love it when people run with ‘might as well outlaw the bump’ when one of their players is caught out with a dirty hit. There’s thousands of bumps each year and 99% of them are within the rules/spirit of the game. I’d suggest most players in Houston’s position would have elected to tackle. He ****ed up now deal with it.

 

[Del165198]

Even if the AFL manipulate the tribunal down to 3 weeks, if Port win in week 1, Houston wouldn't be available until the GF. You wouldn't play a guy in a GF who hasn't played for 5 weeks would you? Surely not!

When they're AA quality and 100% fit, of course you would

 

[Soggy2112]

Seems like there is a rule now of you can't hit players too hard then. What happens if a player is pushed over and they get concussed?

This is a silly hypothetical. Everyone knows that if you hip and shoulder someone at pace there is a very high likelihood that you will KO someone. It could be by direct contact to the head, by whiplash or by head hitting the ground. Houston had other options, he could have tackled, he could have attempted to take the ball. He instead chose to hit Rankine, he is therefore responsible for the outcome.

The AFL has been clear on this for quite some time. Players have a duty of care to each other on the field, and so they should. Head injuries are no joke. If you choose to do something that puts your opponent in a lot of risk and you had other valid options then it’s on you.

 

[PenfoldsFan]

I was talking specifically about the pre game talk

My point was that nothing was made of the comments by Wines, Byrne Jones and Burton last year. Yet Rachele's comments were widely condemned. Isn't this somewhat hypocritical?

I've already said on here that I don't like the trash talk rubbish before the game by players. Just sets them up to fail.

I do agree with you that neither sides supporters can take the high moral ground. Every club has their dickheads.

Fair enough, to be honest I dont take much notice of whats said in the lead up from either side of the fence until something happens to highlight it, like Rach's taunt to the crowd in game.

 

[Rabish Binney]

Seems like there is a rule now of you can't hit players too hard then. What happens if a player is pushed over and they get concussed?

In that case, the player doing the pushing would be liable to be suspended I would have thought.

You just need to have a look at the McAdam case from last year. McAdam was rubbed out for 3 games even though there was no contact to the head of the GWS player and said GWS player was not injured. He was suspended on the basis of the potential to cause injury.

The tribunal found:

" After a lengthy adjudication on Tuesday night, the tribunal found that even though Wehr had no lasting injuries, it was a clear example that the potential for serious injury was high. McAdam was suspended last year for 3 games for the potential to cause injury.

The tribunal is a dog's breakfast.

 

[Rabish Binney]

When they're AA quality and 100% fit, of course you would

I think Port would pick him if this happens. Very important player in their side

 

[Duckimus Prime]

You just need to have a look at the McAdam case from last year. McAdam was rubbed out for 3 games even though there was no contact to the head of the GWS player and said GWS player was not injured. He was suspended on the basis of the potential to cause injury.

McAdam was suspended for rough conduct, with high contact and high impact.

The bump to the body was of sufficient intent to cause Wehr's head to also crash into McAdam during the bump.

The potential to cause injury came with upgrading the impact from medium to high. Not by inventing high contact that didn't occur.

 

[HirdsTheWord]

Gotta be 4-5 weeks if we are being serious.

 

[Soggy2112]

McAdam was suspended for rough conduct, with high contact and high impact.

The bump to the body was of sufficient intent to cause Wehr's head to also crash into McAdam during the bump.

The potential to cause injury came with upgrading the impact from medium to high. Not by inventing high contact that didn't occur.

 

[PeterSalt]

Yeah, and when Aliir and Jones went down in your showdown your feral supporters made plenty of noise, I was sitting in some of your premium seating so not like they were GA bottom feeders either.
Theres good and bad in all.

lol .. went down

That's when the pair of dopey clowns tried to clean up Thilthorpe and pole-axed each other instead

And then your dopey coaches and medical staff thought they'd run the gaunlet on concussion protocols and made right proper campaigners of themselves .. again

 

[GROTTO]

Correct. They also cheered and jeered when Sloane ironed out Dangerfield in their last finals win and gave him a mozz as he came off the ground. The projection and hypocrisy is hilarious.

Did Slaone concuss Dangerfield? No. He lay down as if he was crucified, when clearly he wasnt.

 

[GROTTO]

Gotta be 4-5 weeks if we are being serious.

6+

 

[GROTTO]

I'd love to see GWS in a close GF, reckon Toby Green would be fine with missing the first 10 weeks of 2025 to guarantee a medal.

Players will rock up to this years GF with concealed weapons. lol

 

[gordo2016]

Even if the AFL manipulate the tribunal down to 3 weeks, if Port win in week 1, Houston wouldn't be available until the GF. You wouldn't play a guy in a GF who hasn't played for 5 weeks would you? Surely not!

You would if they had only missed through 4 games in the last 4 seasons, obviously one of the first picked and really important to them.

 

[GROTTO]

No it’s not. If you choose to bump and the player is subsequently knocked out then you get games.

 

[The Hobo]

In that case, the player doing the pushing would be liable to be suspended I would have thought.

You just need to have a look at the McAdam case from last year. McAdam was rubbed out for 3 games even though there was no contact to the head of the GWS player and said GWS player was not injured. He was suspended on the basis of the potential to cause injury.

The tribunal found:

" After a lengthy adjudication on Tuesday night, the tribunal found that even though Wehr had no lasting injuries, it was a clear example that the potential for serious injury was high. McAdam was suspended last year for 3 games for the potential to cause injury.

The tribunal is a dog's breakfast.

Did Wehr's head not whiplash into McAdam's shoulder? Or are you saying that there was 0 contact by McAdam onto Wehrs head at any point?

 

[Daniel B]

Some astute observations as always from the great Titus O'Reily:

The big moment of the night was when Dan Houston

5

Dan Houston

Age

27

Ht

186cm

Wt

88kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

18.2

5star

K

11.8

4star

HB

6.4

4star

M

4.9

5star

T

3.0

5star

MG

289.2

4star

D

17.6

4star

K

11.6

4star

HB

6.0

3star

M

3.3

3star

T

3.4

4star

MG

319.9

5star

D

16.6

4star

K

12.4

5star

HB

4.2

4star

M

7.0

5star

T

2.6

4star

MG

279.8

5star

knocked out Izak Rankine

23

Izak Rankine

Age

24

Ht

181cm

Wt

82kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

13.0

3star

K

9.0

3star

HB

4.0

3star

M

2.7

3star

T

2.7

4star

G

2.0

5star

D

13.0

3star

K

9.0

4star

HB

4.0

3star

M

2.7

3star

T

2.7

4star

G

2.0

5star

D

13.0

4star

K

9.0

4star

HB

4.0

3star

M

2.7

3star

T

2.7

5star

G

2.0

5star

with a huge bump to the head.
This being the modern AFL, the umpires waved ‘play on’ as Rankine distressingly thrashed on the ground.
Jason Horne-Francis ended up with the ball and kicked a goal.
How, in a time when looking at a player above their shoulders results in a high contact free kick, was this not called?
Not since Christian Petracca

5

Christian Petracca

Age

28

Ht

187cm

Wt

94kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

19.4

5star

K

9.5

4star

HB

9.8

5star

M

3.5

4star

T

3.0

5star

CL

2.5

4star

D

24.4

5star

K

10.4

4star

HB

14.0

5star

M

3.5

3star

T

3.6

4star

CL

3.4

4star

D

19.0

5star

K

7.8

3star

HB

11.2

5star

M

3.0

3star

T

3.8

5star

CL

2.0

4star

was sent back on the field have I seen such a bad decision.
I’m looking forward to seeing how the AFL declares the umpire made the right decision while also suspending Houston for five weeks.