Sydney Swans skipper cleared for bump in surprise AFL Tribunal win

The Swans efficiently argued Rampe didn’t elect to bump Lachlan McNeil throughout Thursday evening’s win over the Western Bulldogs.

McNeil suffered delayed concussion after the match, with Rampe’s tough conduct graded careless with excessive influence and excessive contact, leading to a two-match ban.

Watch each match of each spherical of the 2023 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE on Kayo Sports. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

If unsuccessful, Rampe would have missed matches in opposition to Fremantle and Essendon.

Sydney’s consultant Duncan Miller argued the collision “was a football incident, and was not due to any want of reasonable care on Rampe’s part”, and didn’t warrant a careless grading – and thus it ought to be thrown out.

Rampe mentioned he noticed Taylor Duryea (who had the ball) make eye contact with McNeil, so Rampe was on “high alert” as a defender and strikes to shut area with McNeil.

Asked if he had any intention to make contact with McNeil, Rampe mentioned “absolutely none”, arguing McNeil changed into him as he tried to get to the area outdoors of McNeil’s proper shoulder, inflicting the contact.

The AFL’s Sam Bird requested Rampe whether or not McNeil was actually a “realistic option” for the person with the ball to kick to within the second.

“It absolutely was a realistic option,” Rampe mentioned.

“The pass doesn’t go there, does it?” Bird requested.

“Because I did my job,” Rampe responded.

The Swans objected to a number of questions asking whether or not a participant who was trying on the soccer, not an opponent behind him, was in a susceptible place.

“I didn’t run in and make contact. There was no other option than to brace after he moved in and made contact with me,” Rampe mentioned, additionally claiming he’d do the identical factor once more if given the possibility.

Tribunal chair Renee Enbom mentioned: “We find there was accidental contact between the two players which Rampe could not have reasonably avoided.

“We find McNeil turned into Rampe and contact occurred.

“Rampe did not initiate contact, he did not change direction to make contact with McNeil.

“As McNeil turned into Rampe and realised they were about to collide, Rampe reasonably braced for contact.

“In those circumstances, we dismiss the charge.”

JORDAN BOYD CASE

Carlton’s Jordan Boyd was referred on to the Tribunal for his sort out on Darcy Byrne-Jones, which left the Port Adelaide participant concussed.

It was graded as careless conduct with extreme influence and excessive contact, leading to a direct referral with a really useful sanction of not less than three matches.

In the tip the Tribunal agreed with the influence grading, which was the one component contested by the Blues, leading to a three-match man. Boyd will miss video games in opposition to West Coast, Collingwood and St Kilda.

The Blues argued a collision between Byrne-Jones and Adam Cerra earlier than the sort out was additionally a concussive occasion and thus Boyd’s incident mustn’t obtain such a sanction.

Dr Matt Chamberlain, the Blues’ medical chief, mentioned the conflict of heads between Byrne-Jones and Cerra was “significant” however conceded there have been no speedy indicators of concussion from that incident – with each gamers taking part in proper by way of the knock.

Chamberlain mentioned he couldn’t definitively rule out Boyd’s sort out being the reason for Byrne-Jones concussion.

The AFL, represented by Sam Bird, additionally argued the potential to trigger vital damage within the sort out is sufficient to blame the sort out over the Cerra knock.

The Blues additionally made a prolonged argument saying Byrne-Jones took his regular sample of rotations, and took a very long time to take a shot on aim minutes after the sort out as a result of he’d been advised to by Sam Powell-Pepper, seemingly to recommend he wasn’t displaying indicators of concussion.

They argued the influence grading ought to be medium, leading to a one-match ban, whereas the AFL requested for 3 weeks.

Carlton pointed to a collection of different incidents graded as extreme, together with Nathan Broad’s sort out from early within the season, and mentioned Boyd’s was not as dangerous.

But in response the AFL pointed to the Shane McAdam incident from Round 1 which resulted in a three-match ban regardless of no concussion for sufferer Jacob Wehr, saying the concussion to Byrne-Jones warranted a prolonged suspension.

Tribunal chair Renee Enbom discovered: “We are satisfied on the balance of probabilities Boyd’s tackle caused the concussion.

“It is apparent from the vision of the incident that Byrne-Jones’ head hits the ground with significant force. We compared that vision to the vision of Byrne-Jones bumping heads with Adam Cerra.

“In our view, there was far less impact to the head in that incident compared to the contact that Byrne-Jones’ head made with the ground as a result of Boyd’s tackle.

“Dr. Chamberlain, the Chief Medical Officer at Carlton, gave some evidence in relation to the issue. He did not express a view as to the more likely cause of the concussion, nor did he compare the level of impact to the head involved in the two incidents.

“Whilst we are grateful for his evidence, it was of limited assistance to us in deciding the issue.

“We uphold severe classification. Both of the player’s arms were pinned throughout the tackle, which meant he could not use his arms to protect his head at all. Excessive force was used in the second part of the tackle, which resulted in the player’s head making significant contact with the ground. The significant head contact with the ground caused a serious injury, being a concussion.

“The fact that concussion was not evident immediately after the tackle is in our view not to the point. The fact is he did suffer a concussion as a result of the tackle.

“The last issue is the appropriate penalty. In our view, the appropriate penalty in this matter is three weeks, which is the base penalty.”

Originally printed as Sydney Swans skipper cleared for bump in shock AFL Tribunal win