When did you last see an AFL umpire dig the notebook and pen out of his socks to report a player – and virtually disqualify the offender from the game’s most prestigious individual award, the Brownlow Medal?
It doesn’t happen any more.
Essendon’s Zach Merrett was banned for one match for this tackle.Credit: AFL
The umpires have handed that pain to match review officer Michael Christian and by extension the multi-layer tribunal system.
And that is where the AFL should now have a new system to determine if a player is still eligible to win “Chas” at the end of the season.
Right now, we are having players eliminated from the Brownlow field for clumsy or unintentional consequences while they take on a basic football task such as tackling.
Essendon captain Zach Merrett is ineligible for the Brownlow Medal for a football action – a solid tackle – that has become troublesome because of the concussion concerns facing all sports. Merrett did not act in a way that would have worried the game’s leaders when they introduced the Brownlow in 1924 to deal with thuggery on the field and disrespect towards umpires.
No AFL player should be denied the Brownlow because lawyers are lining up outside AFL House with class actions on head injuries.
And there is nothing more anticlimactic than a player polling the most votes on Brownlow Medal night but not taking home the medal because he was suspended during the home-and-away season.
It has happened twice – and still irks many.
In 1996, North Melbourne ruckman Corey McKernan polled 21 votes to tie with Brisbane Lions captain Michael Voss and Essendon general James Hird. However, McKernan was banned for one match in round seven after being charged with kneeing Geelong rival John Barnes.
A year later, in 1997, the fallout was worse because Western Bulldogs forward Chris Grant polled the most votes, 27, but was ineligible for striking Hawthorn forward Nick Holland. St Kilda champion Robert Harvey was crowned the winner.
Grant’s loss was harder to accept considering no umpire reported him. He was cited by AFL football boss Ian Collins, pre-empting all that we have today with the match review officer.
Patrick Cripps would have joined this duo last year had his two-game, rough conduct ban stood. The last-ditch appeal that focused on a legal technicality was successful – and notably irked AFL boss Gillon McLachlan.
It is time for change.
Today, players such as Merrett are being suspended for acts that umpires of the past would not report.
However, AFL tribunal chairman Jeff Gleeson argues Merrett had not acted “reasonably”; he did not have the foresight to assess that Sparrow was in a dangerous position when he tackled him to the ground.
Tough way to be denied the Brownlow. More so when in the past Merrett’s tackle would have been deemed legal.
Merrett is a fair player with an excellent reputation. He is in sparkling form. He sits in the top 10 of the AFL coaches’ voting and averages 30 disposals a game. Essendon had four wins from their first five games and Merrett is a proven Brownlow vote-getter.
It is a farce that he is out of the Brownlow race.
It is time for the AFL to consider two possible changes to the Brownlow to take into account today’s legally troubled game.
First, have the match review officer or tribunal not only declare a penalty for offences but also determine if a player is still eligible for the Brownlow. This also can be challenged by the player, just as the penalty is today.
Or, introduce a three-game ban threshold for Brownlow eligibility. It is akin to the demerit point system on a driving licence.
Today, there are 15 players who are ineligible for the Brownlow. On Tuesday night, Merrett joined the list – and for a pure football act that should not be denying him a chance to wear the Brownlow. By contrast, St Kilda spark Anthony Caminiti took a three-game ban for concussing Collingwood defender Nathan Murphy behind the play and should not have any right to the Brownlow.
The vast difference in tribunal cases highlights why change is needed.
Punish thuggish behaviour but avoid the embarrassing scenario of a player, such as Merrett, polling the most votes on Brownlow night only to be denied the medal for a football act that cannot be judged as unfair.
The AFL’s tribunal rules are changing with the times. The Brownlow eligibility rules need to be adjusted as well.
