The grading system is far from perfect, but it is for the most part reasonably clear. This incident couldn’t have been graded any differently.
By arguing for less than 3 weeks you are asking the Tribunal to effectively rule that the grading applied properly led to an inadequate result. I don’t think there were enough mitigating circumstances to do that. The only mitigating circumstances I can see is that in that split second Gray could have done more to protect himself, but this wouldn’t persuade the Tribunal, because (rightly) the onus is on the tackler not to injure the player with the ball with a dangerous tackle.
Nyhuis is a young guy playing for his career, who attached Gray with great ferocity and laid a poorly executed tackle. The margin between a good tackle and a dangerous one is very fine and 9 times out of 10 there isn’t too much consequence – the player dusts himself off and everyone moves on. Nyhuis and Gray were both unlucky it didn’t pan out that way. Sadly for Nyhuis, it means he gets a spell, and he (and hopefully others) will put a little more focus on the way they tackle because the possible consequences for someone like Gray are enormous. I don’t want to be hyperbolic about it, but Gray has a 6 month old at home, and I’m sure that is his biggest priority in life now, and that he wants to spend a long, happy life with his family. How many hits like the one he took on Sunday does he have to get until his career and life outside footy are jeopardised?
Lyon came out and defended Nyhuis in his press conference. I’m sure he has the support of the club. By (effectively) accepting three weeks it gave the AFL counsel a chance to himself come out and credit Nyhuis’ character, which I think is important.
He’s a bit unlucky, but that bad luck occurred when Gray’s head hit the turf the way it did, not because of the club he plays for or the way the club handled it. I think a couple of weeks was probably about right, but again, he was a little unlucky with the way the grading system works.
