DAYS before the pill was bounced in the AFL’s Opening Round, the league made a strong statement surrounding their intention to protect players from brain injuries.
There has been widespread condemnation of the sickening bump that saw North Melbourne’s Jy Simpkin knocked out in a pre-season match against St Kilda at Moorabbin Oval.
St Kilda defender Jimmy Webster received a seven week ban at the tribunal last week for the collision, in which he left the ground and made heavy contact with Simpkin’s head.
The penalty was the centre of much discussion, with the decision coming a week after Sam Powell-Pepper received a four-week ban for a similar incident.
Both bumps were graded with the same classifications – careless conduct which made high contact and had a severe impact.
It’s interesting to consider how long a suspension Powell-Pepper would have received had his bump occurred after Webster’s.
The same grading, and both opposition players didn’t return to the ground following the collision, but one week later and the punishment seemed to double.
But Webster’s bump was without the mitigating factors of Powell-Pepper’s, who told the tribunal his “sole intention was to tackle and come over and help (teammate) Willie Rioli”.
In his hearing, Webster didn’t offer an explanation, and plead guilty to the charge which he said he had “no excuse” for.
Is it a case of the AFL realising they were too lenient on Powell-Pepper? Having handed down the suspension and seeing a player perform a worse act days later.
Webster expressed his deep regret both to the tribunal and in a statement released by St Kilda, in which he said he couldn’t understate his remorse.
Long gone are the days where a suspension of this length is solely seen as a response to an off-the-ball strike.
One of the ugliest moments of the modern AFL era, Barry Hall’s punch to Brent Staker’s jaw in 2008 received a seven-week suspension.
The recent suspensions followed Melbourne premiership hero Angus Brayshaw announcing his early retirement – a direct result of a concussion plagued career.
His most recent concussion occurred in the first quarter of last year’s qualifying final against Collingwood, after Brayden Maynard flew for a smother and collected Brayshaw.
The moment would be Brayshaw’s last on the field as an AFL player, and the image of him motionless on the MCG turf laid bare the true cost of impacts to the head.
Maynard didn’t receive any repercussions for the incident, many viewing it solely as a “football act”.
But it is hard to comprehend how that moment escaped suspension, as it once again carried the same grading – careless conduct, high contact and severe impact.
Smothering a ball is a football action, collecting someone’s head with your shoulder should not be.
If the AFL are serious about their player’s safety, they need to prioritise their focus on the outcome of an action.
Players should be protected, not any bravado that surrounds the bump.
