Hart handed six-week ban

FORMER Melbourne captain Garry Lyon says the AFL should have stripped draft picks from Adelaide after its players put a restart to the season in jeopardy.

The AFL yesterday handed 16 Crows one-match suspended bans.

Assistant coach Ben Hart was suspended for six weeks and banned from contact with players until June 22.

The AFL accepted Adelaide’s explanation that it had not deliberately tried to flout the system when players trained together on a Barossa Valley golf course under Hart’s watch.

Senior players Kyle Hartigan and Tom Doedee were in the group of 16 who broke into two groups of eight to complete eight minutes of team drills after a twohour session.

Several rival clubs believed Adelaide was on the camp to gain a competitive advantage, but the Crows were adamant they had approval from the AFL, state health authorities and the police.

Lyon was sceptical on Fox Footy Live last night that the players had committed an innocent mistake and said the AFL should have cracked down harder.

“They should have looked at a draft pick ... for contravening a rule that put the competition in doubt,” Lyon said. “They put the restart in doubt. It’s the very thing (the AFL) went cap in hand to the government for in the last two weeks to say we are great citizens and you can trust our players.

“You know what, 95 per cent of players have done it except for these knuckleheads who have put the restart back.

“It’s incumbent upon the players to understand the rules they are governed by. It’s your responsibility as a player.

“It’s not an obscure rule. It’s been the front page of the paper and leading the news for four days.”

The suspended sentences will expire at the end of the 2020 premiership season.

The AFL has made clear if the players were involved in another infraction they would be suspended for the season and the suspended sentence added on top.

Despite the slap on the wrist, the AFL Commission yesterday spoke about possible deregistration for AFL players who breach social distancing rules in the future.

Adelaide believed it gave clear written and verbal instructions to players and Hart not to train in groups of more than two players.

Hart accepted the AFL’s view that his “instruction was not in line with either the rules or the club’s instructions”.