Snarls Barkley
Brownlow Medallist
- Jun 7, 2012
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THE AFL says the 16-game suspension rule which ended Ali Fahour’s suburban footy career is not required at the elite level.
Fahour was slapped with a lifetime ban by the Northern Football League tribunal last week because his 14-week penalty lifted his tribunal record above the threshold enforced by AFL Victoria.
An AFL spokesperson said there were two reasons the 16-match deregistration policy did not apply at the elite level.
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE AFL’S WORST REPEAT TRIBUNAL OFFENDERS
“One, there is a much greater level of scrutiny on AFL matches with camera coverage, the ability to lay reports and much stricter rules where players can be suspended for incidents that will often not be picked up at lower levels, where this policy was designed for serial aggressive offenders, not low-level repeat offenders.
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“Two, we do not believe there has been a repeat offender issue at AFL level over the last 20 years where a player has been getting repeated, long suspensions for repeated behind-play offences.
“We have had players with highly-publicised one-off offences with significant suspensions, but not a player who has then gone and done a similar thing on multiple separate occasions.”
Four-time Hawthorn premiership star Jordan Lewis, now at Melbourne, boasts the AFL’s worst tribunal record — missing 12 games through suspension since he was first reported for striking Brent Harvey in a final in 2007.
Jordan Lewis copped a three-week ban for striking Patrick Cripps in Round 2. Picture: Wayne Ludbey
Steve Johnson was rubbed out for a week for a high bump on Josh Kennedy in last year’s qualifying final. Picture: Phil Hillyard
North Melbourne’s Jack Ziebell and Greater Western Sydney veteran Steve Johnson have both been rubbed out for 11 matches.
Johnson has been cited a league-high 20 times and found guilty 17 times for incidents dating to Round 13, 2010.
Fremantle teammates Hayden Ballantyne and Zac Dawson are next on the AFL suspension ladder, missing 10 games each.
Under the terms of the AFL Victoria national deregistration policy, suspension records incurred by AFL players are halved when they join country or suburban competitions.
The rule means Lewis’s 12-game AFL tally would be reduced to six matches if he signed up in a lower grade.
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Former Hawk and Gold Coast Suns enforcer Campbell Brown was suspended for 29 matches during his AFL career — the most since the VFL became the AFL in 1990.
Sydney premiership skipper Barry Hall — inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame last month — was cited 17 times, found guilty 11 times and rubbed out for 26 matches while playing for the Swans, Western Bulldogs and St Kilda.
His suspension tally was cut to 13 when he returned to play local football. Suspensions of three or more weeks for Hall, who at 40 is still playing for Labrador in Queensland, will result in a lifetime ban.
St Kilda’s Steven Baker was cited 15 times at AFL level, found guilty 15 times and missed 28 games through suspension.
St Kilda’s Steven Baker was a regular at AFL House.
An AFL Victoria spokesperson said: “The national deregistration policy ... has been developed to provide a risk management framework for community football administrators to recognise a duty of care with respect to players and officials who could pose an unacceptable risk to others.
“If a player/official accumulates 16 weeks (or more) total suspension, the national deregistration policy will be invoked which bans the player/official from participating in Australian football in any league/competition.
“According to the policy, any suspension period served by a player during his AFL career shall carry over to community football competitions. However, any such suspension period shall be halved for the purposes of the deregistration policy.
“Deregistration does not commence until after the suspension has been served.
“A player/official who has been deregistered in accordance with section 3.2 of the policy may not appeal their deregistration until at least 12 months after deregistration.”
WORST OFFENDERS (CURRENT PLAYERS)
WORST OFFENDERS SINCE 1990
PLAYER CITATIONS GUILTY SUSPENSIONS WEEKS 1 Jordan Lewis 15 14 6 12 2 Steve Johnson 20 17 9 11 3 Jack Ziebell 9 9 4 11 4 Hayden Ballantyne 16 15 7 10 4 Zac Dawson 9 9 6 10 6 Luke Hodge 17 16 6 9 6 Jarrad Waite 10 10 6 9 6 Steven May 6 5 3 9 6 Tom Jonas 5 5 2 9 10 Ty Vickery 10 10 3 8 11 Lance Franklin 13 13 6 7 11 Heath Hocking 4 4 4 7 13 Paddy Ryder 10 9 4 6 13 Nat Fyfe 8 7 3 6 13 Shaun Burgoyne 6 4 3 6 13 Tomas Bugg 3 5 1 6 17 Neville Jetta 5 5 4 5 17 Lindsay Thomas 12 11 3 5 17 Mitch Robinson 10 10 3 5 17 Hamish Hartlett 10 10 3 5 17 James Kelly 7 7 3 5 17 Jeremy Cameron 9 8 2 5 17 Alex Rance 7 7 2 5 17 Joel Selwood 7 7 2 5 17 Taylor Walker 6 6 2 5 17 Reece Conca 3 3 2 5 17 Alex Silvagni 2 2 2 5 17 Steele Sidebottom 2 2 2 5
*Doping violation
PLAYER CITATIONS GUILTY SUSPENDED WEEKS LONGEST 1 Campbell Brown 14 13 10 29 6 2 Steven Baker 15 15 12 28 7 3 Barry Hall 17 11 8 26 7 4 Dermott Brereton 7 5 5 25 7 5 Greg Williams 10 6 5 23 9 6 Chris Lewis 13 9 7 21 7 7 Dustin Fletcher 18 16 12 20 3 8 Jeff Farmer 15 11 8 19 6 9 Cam Mooney 16 14 12 18 3 10 Barry Young 11 9 7 17 5 10 Dean Solomon 14 13 6 17 8 10 Justin Charles 4 3 2 17 16*
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/...y/news-story/e7f39fc0362569cf15d9073d00a4417b
"Insolent and contemptuous"
