League vows to protect heads
THE AFL has warned players it will look to protect their heads as much as ever in the wake of Robbie Gray’s onematch suspension yesterday.
The Port Adelaide superstar will miss the Power’s season opener against Fremantle at Adelaide Oval for his high bump on West Coast swingman Jeremy McGovern on Sunday.
The Power will decide this morning whether to appeal against the ban, risking a $10,000 penalty if they are unsuccessful.
Clubs who go over their football department cap will have to pay a 75 per cent tax, discouraging them from attempting frivolous appeals.
Gray, 29, will still be eligible to win the Brownlow Medal because the misdemeanour occurred in the pre-season.
The gun ball winner was determined to play in Round 1 in his comeback from a testicular cancer scare last year.
The Gray ban was contentious because Richmond captain Trent Cotchin was let off for making high contact to Greater Western Sydney midfielder Dylan Shiel in last year’s preliminary final.
But the AFL’s new match review panel chief Michael Christian yesterday said he did not consider the Cotchin case a precedent.
Christian said Gray was charged because he chose to bump instead of making a genuine attempt to win the ball.
The bump ended McGovern’s match.
Christian warned that players faced suspension for bump- ing rivals in the head under the new match review system.
“Bumping is a fantastic feature of our game, but when you elect to bump you must do it fairly,” Christian said.
“If you make contact to the head in a careless manner then that’s where there may well be a penalty forthcoming.”
The AFL is determined to protect players’ heads after alarming new research about concussion.
Christian said Gray could have gone in lower to pick up the ball rather than make high contact on McGovern.
“His eyes move from the ball to McGovern and, if he was genuinely contesting the ball, I would like to see his hands down contesting the ball rather than shaping to bump,” he said.
Melbourne midfielder Clayton Oliver was fined $1500 for striking North Melbourne tagger Ben Jacobs to the body on Saturday.
Port Adelaide’s Paddy Ryder was fined $2000 for striking West Coast’s Andrew Gaff.