Player Watch Rookie Pick #45 (2015) - Dan Houston

[JohnHinckleyJr]

Any sane non invested judge would see yes it was rough ..

But fair he didn't hit his head hit his body and dislodged the ball ..

Unfortunately the AFL judges are corrupt and invested..

Plus the AFL want hawthorn to win the premiership

 

[EskimoPAFC]

No, the gradings mean it is at least 3 matches. So the grand final scenario could still be in play.

Grand final is still potentially in play with 4. Especially if we go out Western Sydney week 1.

 

[EskimoPAFC]

Also I'm so confused.

We know impact is severe. No way around that.

Careless rather than intentional is lucky no? I would have thought it would be intentional.

High instead of body is just strange. He clearly hits him in the chest.

 

[TazD]

Also I'm so confused.

We know impact is severe. No way around that.

Careless rather than intentional is lucky no? I would have thought it would be intentional.

High instead of body is just strange. He clearly hits him in the chest.

Reckon them grading Careless is trying to give us a chance of Dan playing the GF.

 

[TeeKray]

The grading of high contact is even more absurd when you consider that a free kick wasn’t paid due to the contact not being high. Figure that one out

The umpires also thought Rozee didn't take the mark, etc. They just guess a lot of the time. It's an irrelevant point.

 

[Schulzenfest]

Careless rather than intentional is lucky no? I would have thought it would be intentional.

No, that's in line with previous incidents. They only rate it as intentional if they consider that the player intended to hit their opponent in the head, which is obviously very rare. Even Webster on Simpkin somehow only got rated as careless.

 

[TeeKray]

Where's the guidelines on "high"?

At the point of contact Dans shoulder/arm/chest collects Rankines upper chest

There's pretty clear images of this, and you can see Rankines head is above Dans shoulder.

There are pics doing the rounds of Rankines head at the same height as Dans shoulder but these are after the initial contact has been made and Rankines body is sort of whiplashing.

Excuse my ignorance if this is wrong in terms of what constitutes high, but this is the first thing I'd be arguing.


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The definition of high contact would be that any part of Houston makes contact with any part of Rankine's head or neck at any moment. I think it's hard to argue that this didn't happen. My argument would be that almost all of the contact was with the body, the high contact was too minimal to warrant a reportable offence and that all of the head damage was done after the fact when his head hit the ground.

 

[It Just Is]

Also I'm so confused.

We know impact is severe. No way around that.

Careless rather than intentional is lucky no? I would have thought it would be intentional.

High instead of body is just strange. He clearly hits him in the chest.

Bumps in play are always graded as careless and not intentional as bumping is a legal action. No surprises in that.

It’s classed as high contract because Rankine was concussed. Wouldn’t matter if Houston hit him in the knee, the grading is solely outcome based.

Nothing out of the ordinary in the MRO’s statement.

 

[Nemisis]

Dan hit Rankine with a lot of force which caused Rankine's head to whiplash. Is there any experts out there that can confirm this may have caused the concussion/loss of consciousness?

 

[It Just Is]

The definition of high contact would be that any part of Houston makes contact with any part of Rankine's head or neck at any moment. I think it's hard to argue that this didn't happen. My argument would be that almost all of the contact was with the body, the high contact was too minimal to warrant a reportable offence and that all of the head damage was done after the fact when his head hit the ground.

I think the definition, or more accurately the current AFL interpretation, is that Houston is responsible for anything that results from his decision to bump. That includes Rankine’s head hitting the ground.

Maybe that gets him toward the lower end of the scale of suspensions.

 

[JakeNeadeFan]

'High contact' actually means the contact needed to be high. If he hit him only in the body and the contact with the ground causes the head injury then it would no be high contact.

However I don't think this helps much because a) he probably did him high, albeit it was more a glancing blow and all the damage was done with the ground
b) even if he did hit him in the body, it is still careless, body, severe which means tribunal which means the AFL will throw the book at him

 

[JakeNeadeFan]

If anyone is interested, this is essentially the best case scenario for Houston. Getting it downgraded to body contact and still copping 3 weeks

 

[Malibu#27]

If anyone is interested, this is essentially the best case scenario for Houston. Getting it downgraded to body contact and still copping 3 weeks

Ignoring Dans case all together and just looking at that video in isolation, if there was no hit to the head it staggers me that he can cop games given the leadup and the ball being in dispute.

 

[morell]

Massive chance of getting this down to 2

 

[Palpatine_Power]

Also I'm so confused.

We know impact is severe. No way around that.

Careless rather than intentional is lucky no? I would have thought it would be intentional.

High instead of body is just strange. He clearly hits him in the chest.

He doesn't leave the ground, or travel past the point of the hit indicating he wasn't charging into him at high speed. Does it get chucked out if they graded it high and we can prove it wasn't?

I still think Maynard's was way worse, and he had ample time to shift to not elbow Brayshaw in the head (literally any action other than a mid-air shoulder charge). Even in real time I thought his was garbage and he had no chance of getting off, but he still played the next week and Brayshaw had to retire.

 

[Chewy316]

Dan hit Rankine with a lot of force which caused Rankine's head to whiplash. Is there any experts out there that can confirm this may have caused the concussion/loss of consciousness?

Concussion essentially can't happen without a whiplash injury - the two go hand in hand and that's why as part of any good concussion rehab protocol includes neck strengthening exercises (particularly of the deep neck flexors).

In this case there is a good angle (I don't have the tech to make a video cut up) of the hit which clearly shows Rankine alert following the hit, but upon his head hitting the ground, he exhibits a tonic posture which is indicative of concussion.

Any half decent lawyer should be able to present a solid case for Dan at the tribunal. But I don't necessarily trust Port's lawyers given their history MrMeaner

 

[MrMeaner]

Any half decent lawyer should be able to present a solid case for Dan at the tribunal. But I don't necessarily trust Port's lawyers given their history MrMeaner

I couldn't possibly comment except to say that I have never represented Port at the tribunal (though I have offered under a previous admin).

 

[bomberclifford]

Dan hit Rankine with a lot of force which caused Rankine's head to whiplash. Is there any experts out there that can confirm this may have caused the concussion/loss of consciousness?

From what I understand about concussion, the whiplash is THE most likely cause of the concussion. It was a pretty brutal back and forth of the head.

Hitting the ground certainly wouldn't have helped, and likely exacerbated the problem, but IMO the whiplash caused it.

 

[Arsene Wenger]

I like the optimism here but there is no way he gets less than 4. The VFL pile on has well and truly commenced.

 

[theouthouse]

This is a strange one, Rankine has left the ground to contest the loose footy, it's not for a mark, and chooses to take the ball front on with his chest in the air, opening himself right up at the expense of trying to protect himself. There were other options Rankine had such as a tap on, keep his feet on the ground and take the contest side on, spin move, sit back and wait.

Now Dan he has a player coming at him at full flight, with the direction of the loose ball, who has chosen to jump up and leave the ground in order to win possessions of the football before him. At this stage it's only self preservation for Dan.

I admire Rankines courage for going with the flight of the ball, but you 100% have to protect yourself and fully expect contact in the situation both players were in.

 

[EskimoPAFC]

He doesn't leave the ground, or travel past the point of the hit indicating he wasn't charging into him at high speed. Does it get chucked out if they graded it high and we can prove it wasn't?

I still think Maynard's was way worse, and he had ample time to shift to not elbow Brayshaw in the head (literally any action other than a mid-air shoulder charge). Even in real time I thought his was garbage and he had no chance of getting off, but he still played the next week and Brayshaw had to retire.

Maynard should have been 8.

Just like Cotchin should have been 3-4 in 2017.

Just like Cripps should have been 3 in his Brownlow year.

When they want to, they take the result they want and work backwards. Its how its always been. These "exceptions" rarely apply to clubs like Port.

I would guess it would get downgraded not thrown out, but I can't be sure. At the end of the day he had the choice to tackle and chose not to, and Rankine was knocked out as a result. If it was the other way around I'd be absolutely ropeable if the offender didn't get at least 3 (and to be honest I'm already fairly angry that Thilthorpe didn't get a couple of weeks... and Jones wasn't even concussed).

 

[Ant Bear]

If the AFL are going to allege high contact, they'd better have more conclusive evidence of this high contact than has been released so far. No video or still photo has shown any part of Houston hitting Rankine higher than the chest.

At the moment, they're relying wholly on The Vibe.

 

[OneGreatClub]

Has Houston been lowered into a vat of acid yet?

Mark Robinson is doing his best to ensure that happens. He’s even donating the acid.

 

[Duckimus Prime]

Just like Cotchin should have been 3-4 in 2017.

Cotchin should've gotten a fine in 2017, which would've resulted in a 1 game suspension due to being his third fine.

Ironically though, he should've probably copped a suspension for the two punches he threw during the year though. Which meant the AFL would've been free to fine him for the collision with Shiel. But the Vic protection act during the year actually ended up putting them in a worse position.

 

[PAFC66]

In all seriousness are you ****ing simple ?

Ok mate go and argue for the club that it wasn't high and that a front on hit to the clavicle is legal..Goodluck with that...

Again.. you don't need to hit them in the head. If you bump someone and there's a concussion you're gone. The rest is noise.