Ross Lyon savages ‘broken’ tribunal; Blue’s ban overturned; AFL warns clubs of rule crackdown

“We’ve got a kid that concussed a player, it’s a six-week penalty, there’s just no consideration – as Paul Roos would say, ‘Common sense is commonly uncommon’.” In the spotlight last round for the spray he gave his players, most notably teenage midfielder Hugo Garcia, a still fired-up Lyon said AFL clubs would be better off running their own breakaway competition than fielding teams in the VFL. “No wonder AFL clubs talk about, ‘Let’s have a breakaway group from a 22-team competition and just have four or five clubs that play each other’,” he said. “It’s not worth the risk, and there’s no recompense or consideration or adjustment for the reality of a misaligned fixture of a feeder competition to the AFL, so I am absolutely filthy.

“What I would like is for common sense to prevail here for a young player. “We talk about mental health ... the kid has been suspended for four and he’ll miss six. How do you reckon his mental health is going at the minute, and mine?” AAP Blues star free to play this week after having ban overturned Angus Delaney

Carlton midfielder Adam Cerra has had his one-match ban overturned, with the AFL tribunal deeming his contact to be careless, rather than intentional, and freeing him to play against the Crows on Saturday. Loading Cerra was initially given a one-match ban for striking Jack Bowes in the Blues’ victory over Geelong on Sunday which the match review officer graded as intentional, low-impact and high contact. Tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson said, although Cerra’s contact characterised a strike and “forceful blow that knocked Bowes off his feet”, it was not intentional. “It is clear from the video as a matter of fact Cerra did not intend to strike Bowes, but intended to push him,” said Gleeson.

“Bowes moved lower immediately prior to the moment of contact ... the movement of Bowes at the last second supports the view that Cerra intended to push him in the chest or shoulder.” Loading Cerra said he “brushed across” Bowes’ jaw region by accident when he was attempting to hold space in the stoppage and prevent Geelong players from running past. “Bowes comes to me and goes to engage body contact though a push and my reaction to that was to push him back to protect my space as we do one hundred times a game,” said Cerra. “With the dropping of the height a little bit I’ve accidentally got him high with the right hand.”

The AFL’s lawyer Amara Hughes argued the strike was intentional because Cerra was aware of Bowes’ positioning at the stoppage. Bowes was left with a blood nose and bruising, according to a medical report by Geelong’s club doctor. But Carlton’s lawyer Chris Townshend KC said players compete in situations like this happen about three hundred times a game. He argued the two-handed push was a “typical grapple” that slipped high because Bowes was crouched low. “It’s a push gone wrong … rather than something ... you could describe as a strike.” Cerra, who has played a significant role in Carlton’s early season turnaround, will be issued a fine and is available to play against Adelaide on Saturday. This decision continues Carlton’s success appealing suspension over the past four seasons, including the notable Patrick Cripps case in 2022 which allowed him to win that year’s Brownlow Medal.

Nic Newman, Harry McKay, Jordan Boyd and Cerra himself have all had suspensions overturned. AFL to take a stand on stand rule Jon Pierik The AFL has warned clubs it will crack down on the stand rule, and has urged umpires to have greater vigilance with their decisions late in games and when properly judging the minimum 15-metre kick, having acknowledged mistakes have been made. AFL executive general manager of football Laura Kane revealed on Wednesday that the league had written to all 18 clubs, and had even met with some, about liberties players were taking when manning the mark.

The stand rule requires players to hold their position on the mark until play on is called. Taking a stand: The AFL has warned clubs about creeping when it comes to the man on the mark. Credit: Getty Images “We have been talking about that over the past couple of weeks. I think, probably what is fair to say is, clubs are trying to find ways to benefit from the rules. And that’s their job. We don’t change the way we umpire. What we ask for is consistency,” Kane told SEN. “Sometimes, and the stand rule is a really good example, there is creep. Some clubs in different parts of the ground are creeping. We try to hold for a few weeks to see if there is a trend here, are there a few clubs calling us about this? “Last night, we wrote to the clubs and said: ‘Yeah, there is creep here’. We have met with some particular clubs, but we have written to all 18 clubs now to say we will really hone in on this and focus on it. Nothing has changed. The rule hasn’t changed.”

Loading The stand rule was introduced in a bid to help spark more attacking play, particularly through the centre corridor. Kane said the standard of umpiring this season had been “OK”, and she had put a greater focus on making correct decisions late in games. “We are pretty hard on ourselves. We want the umpiring to be as good as it possibly can be,” Kane said. “Umpires are the first to tell us when they make a mistake. Where I have been disappointed is decisions late in games are made in error, and they are the ones we are focused on trying to make sure, clearly, we want a consistency.

“The umpires do a really good job, but they are the ones we are honing in on and making sure that we can lift that standard and make it as good as it possibly can be for the players, but also for the fans.” Written to clubs: AFL executive football operations boss Laura Kane has addressed several issues. Credit: Simon Schluter There has also been club, player and public frustration over the minimum 15m kick, with marks too often paid for shorter kicks. “We need to make sure we are interpreting the rule properly. We need to make sure all parts of the game, the stand rule, the 15m [kick], is interpreted consistently in the same way … not 10, not 12, 15,” Kane said. Kane said inadvertent player contact with umpires was still an issue, with umpires now experimenting by instructing players to move out of the way.

Loading The AFL has also been involved with Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, the Western Bulldog who has stepped away from the game to deal with personal and medical issues. The AFL, the Bulldogs, Ugle-Hagan and his management have devised a medical management plan they hope will help the talented forward return to the game. “I think the appropriate step is that Jamarra looks after his well being, and he gets into a position personally where he can train and play if he wants to,” Kane said. “How he does that is personal to him, and that’s why we were pleased that we could all come together and create a plan for him that we hope works. “He is a really great kid and a really good player. If he can navigate his challenges, we would love to see him on a footy field again.”

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