Dan Houston

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I'll tell you what I loved about this. One of the most disconnecting aspects of modern AFL as a fan is the vibe of 'we're all friends, we just wear different colours out on the field'. All the players are so friendly with each other, they're all mates, it feels almost like social sport. Actually social sport is probably more competitive. But you have an incident like that and suddenly there is some genuine ill will and a feeling of competitiveness befitting of a professional sport.

Now obviously it shouldn't take an incident like that for players to actually play with some competitive spirit but that's certainly what I saw last night.
 

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I'll tell you what I loved about this. One of the most disconnecting aspects of modern AFL as a fan is the vibe of 'we're all friends, we just wear different colours out on the field'. All the players are so friendly with each other, they're all mates, it feels almost like social sport. Actually social sport is probably more competitive. But you have an incident like that and suddenly there is some genuine ill will and a feeling of competitiveness befitting of a professional sport.

Now obviously it shouldn't take an incident like that for players to actually play with some competitive spirit but that's certainly what I saw last night.

The moment genuinely felt like a jolt back to reality for both teams.

Did Rachele and Sholl get a kick after it happened? It was like men vs boys until the final siren.
 
Would have thought if there is head contact you can’t reasonably also call it intentional, but with body contact it’s got to be intentional doesn’t it?

Intentional is typically reserved for cases where a player intends to commit a reportable offence, e.g., striking. If this incident is graded intentional, I think Houston could reasonably argue it down to careless by claiming that he intended to effect a legal bump.
 
Yeah it’s not exactly balanced over on our board but out of the hundreds of games I have been to I can’t recall the crowd ever heckling a stretchered player. And you lot continue it on here …

I guess the port Adelaide passion is just stronger or you lack other sources of joy in your lives.

Good luck in finals.
Try recalling a little harder then.

"Adelaide fans are screaming at him for "milking" a 50m penalty. TV cameras catch one bloke in a Crows jumper in the outer, finger-pointing, yelling. "You are soft. You. Are. Soft."

Even as he's eventually steered off by a trainer, the raspberries follow him the width of the ground on his beeline for the bench. But Schulz can't hear any of it. No boos, no jeers, nothing.

In a stadium filled with 41,000 people he is suddenly in a painful, silent world of his own. That most basic of human instincts - panic - has kicked in as he feels his face, trying to work out if his eyeball is still in its socket or lying somewhere on the West Lakes turf."
 
Yeah it’s not exactly balanced over on our board but out of the hundreds of games I have been to I can’t recall the crowd ever heckling a stretchered player. And you lot continue it on here …

I guess the port Adelaide passion is just stronger or you lack other sources of joy in your lives.

Good luck in finals.

My god you lot are insufferable hypocrites.
 
Some ****head on the main board trying to make the crowd reaction a race thing. There was only one racist I know of in the crowd last night, his name is Taylor Walker.
 
Some ****head on the main board trying to make the crowd reaction a race thing. There was only one racist I know of in the crowd last night, his name is Taylor Walker.

I was gonna say. From the same fanbase who brought you:

mouthbreathing random throws a banana at Betts: “what do you expect? all Port Power fans are racist scum!!”

32 year old AFL captain who should absolutely know better racially vilifies Robbie Young and the incident is reported by a Crow staffer who heard it: “what happened to sticks and stones?”, “hang on, what did Young say/do first?”, “we have to get rid of the rat who dobbed”

Perfectly normal behaviour from our ivory tower-dwelling betters.
 
Some ****head on the main board trying to make the crowd reaction a race thing. There was only one racist I know of in the crowd last night, his name is Taylor Walker.

Yeah I've read that, speechless tbh

Quite embarrassing for them.

There's a lot of pain behind those posts.


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Some ****head on the main board trying to make the crowd reaction a race thing. There was only one racist I know of in the crowd last night, his name is Taylor Walker.
I just got called a racist for saying that there was only one banana thrower when the muppet said there were thousands. I am not sure they are right in the head.
 
Looking at some of the pics it looks like Dan would have made contact with the ball when bumping. I wonder if the ball compressing and expanding caused Rankine to fall backwards with more force.

I recall the Dangerfield tackle he got away with people were arguing the ball under the Carlton player was a mitigating factor.

It looks like body contact but the media like an outrage and a non Vic player doing it must be gravy for them.

We need our lawyers to argue every point and litigate every definition but I don't have a lot of faith. I guess we'll now see how we'll perform without him in the side.
 

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I went and did some digging into the MRO / Tribunal guidelines and the sanctions for Webster earlier this year.

I would've assumed since he chose to bump it would be deemed intentional. But apparently Webster's was deemed careless, maybe because it's a football act?

All of this quote
"This incident was entirely avoidable. Webster launched into a relatively defenceless Simpkin. He had time to consider his alternatives. The impact was violent and the consequences for Simpkin were heavy. Nonetheless, the offence was graded careless."
could and probably would be applied to Houston's action. So I reckon you tick off careless and severe.

Maybe it's possible to argue it's body contact? I don't think so though, given Rankine appears out before he hits the ground. That being said, Looking at Houston's compared to Webster's, the ball is closer by the time Houston bumps and he stays on the ground with no stray elbows. It doesn't even draw a free. So even though I reckon it'll be considered head high I reckon they'll be able to argue it deserves less weeks than Webster's.

I reckon it shakes out at 6 but I could see a world where it gets down to 4 or 5. Can't see it getting any lower, but can't see it getting equal to or higher than Webster's 7.

But who knows
So looking at that we have to argue Intentional, High, Body which is a flat 2 games and doesn't give them the chance to give an arbitrary Port tax.
 
So looking at that we have to argue Intentional, High, Body which is a flat 2 games and doesn't give them the chance to give an arbitrary Port tax.
There is absolutely zero chance it will be graded as anything but severe. Zero.

Concussion is an automatic 'severe' and has been all year.
 
Even if they argue that it was all body contact you can still get suspended for body contact bumps.

Which is insane, but it happened in the VFL earlier this year.
 
I loved it. Best part is he's literally the last player on the team I would've expected to do a Choppy Pickett. For all his skill the guy plays with little anger or emotion and is actually somewhat timid. Then bang, see you later Izak. Visibly lifted the team and visibly made the opposition cower, just like old days Port. What a way to sign off.
It reminded me so much of Timmy G in the 94 grand final.

A match turning moment.

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Intentional is typically reserved for cases where a player intends to commit a reportable offence, e.g., striking. If this incident is graded intentional, I think Houston could reasonably argue it down to careless by claiming that he intended to effect a legal bump.
Intentional is more for off the ball incidents. Can severe impact be deemed careless? Has there been precedence?
 
I always though the line was "if you elect to bump and get high you're gone"

I think it's grey, at least more-so than initially thought. I can absolutely see him missing the rest of the season, but I can also see the case that, from the stills and vision I've seen, he gets him purely chest on chest.

That's legal under the rules no? Enough so that people complaining about no free, what would a free technically have been for?

Having said that, and I'm absolutely no fan of Rankine, he's a bit of a grub himself, but genuinely hope the lads ok.


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The weirdest thing about it is that given the vagueness of the suspension rules it is entirely possible that it wasn't a free kick yet will be a suspension.

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We have to use this to galvanise the group and harden their resolve to win it all. Houston’s loss can and will be covered. Everyone needs to lift 2-3% and whoever replaces him in the 22 (and more specifically the backline) needs to play like their life depends on it. Burton, Sinn or otherwise.
 
Intentional is more for off the ball incidents. Can severe impact be deemed careless? Has there been precedence?

SPP's rough conduct charge for his bump on Keane in the pre-season was graded as careless conduct, high contact, and severe impact. So was Webster's bump on Simpkin.
 
There is absolutely zero chance it will be graded as anything but severe. Zero.

Concussion is an automatic 'severe' and has been all year.
The argument that I would be making is that any concussion was caused by landing on the ground and that the contact itself was high to the body. Footage shows no contact with the head and we should be able to argue that point.
 
The weirdest thing about it is that given the vagueness of the suspension rules it is entirely possible that it wasn't a free kick yet will be a suspension.

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Regardless of outcome, one certainty to come out of this is to highlight how much of a mess the AFL have got themselves into with all of this.

Case in point, both Picketts collisions over the past couple years that have been total illegal headhunting, and far more dangerous, end up with slaps on the wrist because of no concussion, but a "legal" bump that ends up with concussion will end with a massive ban.


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