Hawthorn great Dermott Brereton “can’t understand” why young midfielder Will Day has been handed a longer suspension for a dangerous tackle than Geelong’s Gary Rohan, after a pair of incidents in the same game.
Day was offered a two-match ban by the AFL Match Review, with Rohan offered one week, following the 82-point Easter Monday win by the Cats.
While neither Brad Close (tackled by Day) or Changkuoth Jiath (tackled by Rohan) appears to have been injured from the incidents, Day’s tackle was graded as high impact, while Rohan’s was graded as medium.
Watch every match of AFL Gather Round LIVE & ad-break free in play on Kayo Sports. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
NEW FOX FOOTY PODCAST – A clear AFL top two… and then who?
Listen below or subscribe in Apple Podcasts or Spotify
But that puzzled Brereton who thought Rohan’s tackle was actually the worse of the pair, because of the slinging action involved, rather than the dump used by Day.
“He takes him down, there’s no sling there. It does look violent, the end bit of it, but he just takes him straight to ground,” Brereton said on Fox Footy’s AFL 360.
“I don’t think either are intended to injure the opposition. The second one (Day), and people’ll say ‘ooh Hawthorn and Geelong (the rivalry)’, I couldn’t give a fat rat’s (about the teams involved).
“I just thought with the Rohan one, he (Jiath) got slung 270 degrees. The other one, he (Close) just went face-first. Pulled down hard. There was no sling in it.
“Is it dangerous? Probably is, so it’s a hard determination but I can’t understand how one’s worth two (weeks) – which I thought was the lesser (and one’s worth one).”
AFL 360 host Gerard Whateley suggested the medical report from Geelong must’ve been the decisive factor that saw the impact grading upgraded.
“We have moved across a threshold, which is good for the game – we are judging the action not the outcome,” he said.
“That (Rohan tackle) action is no good, we have to rid the game of that, that’s a week.”
He added: “I think Hawthorn are obliged to go to the Tribunal and see (with Day). I’m comfortable though that the action is reportable and that’s process for the game.”
