It is a real bummer for Angus. I had also hoped he’d come over as a free agent to play with Andy on the team he supported as a kid.
If we’re relitigating the Maynard hit, I was one of the people who didn’t think he should be suspended. I actually didn’t think ‘it was a normal part of the game’; in fact I thought the problem was that it was exactly the opposite, because I’ve never seen that exact scenario play out - a guy jumping front on to spoil and then landing and hitting the bloke high. I honestly don’t think there is a rule that covers it, because the AFL has never come out and said it doesn’t matter what your intent is, if you jump in the air and hit a bloke in the head and he gets concussed, you’ll be suspended. Instead, the AFL has made a series of determinations based on specific actions (ie, if you bump, if you sling tackle, if you spoil late etc).
The Tribunal agreed there was no rule that covered it and let Maynard off, and the AFL has since made noises about changing that rule (I think they were aiming to have it cleared up before this season, but I haven’t seen anything yet). To me that’s the system moving in the right direction. I reckon it will be another decade or two until the same scenario plays out again, but at that point the AFL Tribunal will know what to do.
I honestly think the bigger issue the more commonplace occurrences that the AFL has tried hard to stamp out, and led to Brayshaw getting four concussions in 12 months around 2017.
The incident where a tackle leads to a player hitting their head on the ground is going to be a mess this year. The AFL has basically said if you chase a bloke from behind and tackle him, and you pin the arms you’ll be done for a dangerous tackle. Short of a goal or hanger, there are few things that fire up a crowd more than a chase down tackle. Punters are going to lose their minds this season when 50% of the time it leads to a free kick against as a dangerous tackle, but it’s the right thing to do.
