Dogs look to courts
WESTERN Bulldogs last night named suspended skipper Katie Brennan at full-forward as the club mulled over an AFLW grand final eve appeal to the Supreme Court.
Brennan was an emergency in a team supplied by the AFL but the club later released a different 22 for the grand final against Brisbane in Melbourne tomorrow.
“Captain Katie Brennan has been named in the team, as the club assesses its position regarding her suspension,” a statement read.
The Bulldogs yesterday failed in a bid to prove AFL match review rules breached the Sex Discrimination Act.
Brennan yesterday challenged the AFL tribunal’s decision on Tuesday to enforce a two-match ban for rough conduct in desperate effort to play.
The bid was thrown out but last night the club had not ruled out an 11th-hour courtroom showdown with the AFL on the eve of the Princes Park blockbuster.
Jack Rush, QC, head of a seven-strong Bulldogs legal team, told the AFL appeals board that Brennan had been discriminated against due to her gender.
Rush argued a male player in the AFL would only be fined for the same second offence.
The suspension represented a “fundamental breach” of the Sex Discrimination Act.
“One of our primary submissions is that it’s close to extraordinary that a woman in the women’s league could have a penalty of suspension when an equivalent in the men’s league does not amount to a suspension,” Rush said.