RELIEVED GRUNDELL PROVES HIS POINT
Offered two, got three, but free on appeal
INVERLEIGH star Dalton Grundell has spoken of his vindication and relief after having his three-match suspension wiped by the AFL Victoria appeals board on Wednesday night.
Grundell and club advocate Dale Smith convinced the three-member panel, chaired by Eddie Power, his collision into the back of Winchelsea’s Alex Gubbins was “unavoidable” and therefore not a reportable action.
In clearing Grundell, Power said reporting umpire James Milligan provided the most telling piece of evidence when he told the tribunal via phone hook-up he believed the player had his eyes on the ball the whole time before Gubbins took the mark.
The 23-year-old was yellow carded and reported for charging Gubbins in the second quarter of the June 16 clash against the Blues at Eastern Reserve.
Offered a set two-match ban, he opted to roll the dice at the AFL Barwon tribunal, who found him guilty and upgraded the sanction to three matches.
The Hawks stumped up the $5500 for the appeal, which will be refunded in part after the three-match sanction was overturned.
“I’m just happy that the result that I thought was fair came out,” Grundell said after the 90-minute hearing at Ikon Park.
“I just felt that it was unfair to receive two weeks for that incident, then to get it upgraded to three.
“I’m very grateful to the club to put forward this money (for an appeal) and the support of (coach) Mark McDowell. I’m very thankful.”
The appeals tribunal was shown footage of Grundell arriving late after taking off on a long, hard lead and running into the back of Gubbins, who marked a high ball at a true centre half-back position.
Grundell maintained he always believed he could mark the footy and pulled up in his final two steps to minimise the impact, even going as far as turning his body.
Leading his defence, Smith said the high kick was blown off course by the blustery conditions, forcing Grundell to change his lead direction from the pocket to a more central position.
Smith repeatedly quoted Bureau of Meteorology data that suggested south to southwest winds of 48km/h were blowing about the time of the incident.
He also calculated that there was about .3 sec between Gubbins marking the ball and contact from Grundell — making contact unavoidable — and even plotted both players’ movements on an aerial map of the ground shown the tribunal.
Gubbins told the tribunal the impact was to his back and lower neck, describing the force “seven out of 10”, a grading consistent across all witnesses, including umpire Milligan and goal umpire Michael Graham.
As a sweeping defender who needed to stand in the hole many times a game, he said he had copped worse hits on a footy field but that this was the first time any had resulted in a report.
Gubbins crashed to the ground after the incident, saying there was “a little bit” of a whiplash effect, but took his kick from the resultant 50m penalty, showed no ill-effects for the rest of the game and played the following week.
As interleague teammates with a mutual respect for each other, Gubbins said Grundell contacted him after the game to see how he was.
AFL Barwon advocate Damien McKeegan, acting for the prosecution, described the contact as unreasonable, unnessesary and intentional, believing it fitted the definition of a charge.
McKeegan said he believed the Hawk had other options.
Milligan said he saw Grundell run “at full pace” with his eyes on the ball before turning his body and performing a hip-and- shoulder motion into Gubbins’s back, forcing the Blues defender to flop forward and hit the ground hard.
He believed Grundell could have tackled — a point strongly disputed by the defence — and laid a report as players started remonstrating.
Milligan said Grundell was between half-a-second to a second late.
McKeegan asked Grundell whether he felt he showed a duty of care to Gubbins, Grundell saying: “I did my best to get around him.”
He told the initial AFL Barwon tribunal hearing last week he felt his conduct was “careless”, an admission that could trigger a guilty finding, but retracted that on Wednesday night, saying he used the wrong word when flustered under crossexamination in the first hearing and, rather, showed all the care he could in the circumstance.
“Contact was unavoidable . . . I gave as much care as I could to lessen it,” Grundell said.
Graham, with a rear view of the incident, said he felt Grundell was never a realistic chance to get to the contest.
“I didn’t think he was going to make it on time,” he told the tribunal.
Graham also believed Grundell had other options than running into Gubbins.
Power praised both sides for their compelling and wellconstructed arguments.
The exoneration means Grundell’s Whitley Medal hopes remain intact and he is free to play matches against North Geelong, Werribee Centrals and Belmont.