Sniper Stewart given 4 weeks [update]

[MintOnLamb]

Scott says he was so upset but goes onto be best in ground. Most people who are upset are off their game and not so focussed.
I call bs and he was in fact proud to help his side win, I’m saying Due to height (Prestia head = Steward shoulder) it could  only be intentional

Dion would have been BOG, and Richmond would have won if that prick had not intentionally taken him out.

[one-eyed]

Four Points: Stewart’s strife

Michael Gleeson
The Age
June 27, 2022

Tom Stewart has been referred directly to the tribunal with a grading of his offence that he carelessly got Dion Prestia in the head and the impact was severe.

The direct referral was correct. The grading of the offence was wrong. There was nothing careless about what Stewart did. He meant it.

He’s a very good player, and hitherto a clean one, but that shouldn’t change the fact he had a brain fade, and decided to clean up Prestia.

The MRO and previous tribunals have typically regarded bumps as accidental. They shouldn’t.

Prestia had long got rid of the ball when Stewart chose not to change direction nor pull up to avoid contact. He made the decision to keep running and drop his shoulder into the exposed player and knock him down.

The AFL provides 45 examples for guidance on categories for the MRO and the tribunal, four of which are for bumps. All examples were rated careless, but they are all also only intended as a guide. Besides that, I think previously they have wrongly categorised players who deliberately bump.

Interestingly, one of the bumps cited among those examples was Patrick Dangerfield from last year when he was banned for three weeks for his bump of Jake Kelly when they clashed heads. That bump was also rated careless, high and severe.

Kelly was knocked out cold, taken off the ground on a cart with concussion and a had his nose broken. By way of comparison, Prestia was also concussed, but remained conscious. Although groggy, he walked from the field in the arms of doctors - not on a cart - and he had no broken bones.

Stewart has a good case to argue that his bump was of lower impact than Dangerfield’s and thus it should be re-rated as high impact not severe. If that happens, the Cats can argue his case is careless, high contact and high impact and falls under guidelines with a penalty of two matches.

Two matches does not pass the sniff test, the pub test, the common-sense test.

Prestia will miss at least two matches with concussion – Saturday’s game and the next round.

The AFL tribunal guidelines permit the MRO or the GM of footy to use their discretion to directly refer certain matters to the tribunal without applying the schedule of penalties for, among other things, “the circumstances of the offence”. They should have done that here.

Michael Christian as MRO and/or Brad Scott as GM of footy should have bypassed the table of offences and used that discretion. This incident was violent, ugly and with the potential for extremely serious injury and should not have been constricted to the punishment table.

Bypassing the table would have meant they take it to the tribunal and let them consider a penalty without overt regard to the inflexible table of punishments.

The AFL’s table system – which is largely meritorious – takes no account of circumstances. It does not weigh up the context of the game, nor is consideration given to the importance of the player hit nor the significance and consequence of the game, for all home and away games are considered equal.

Of course, it is fraught to more heavily punish a player for taking out a very good opponent, for it effectively conveys the message: you can hit those other scrubbers – they count for less. But the consequences of choosing to take out the opposition’s best midfielder in a critical match should also not be discounted. And no, not all games are equal for this was a contest among probable finalists and even top-four contenders.

In a game decided by three points Richmond lost their best midfielder. It is not exaggerating to say the hit cost Richmond the game. Consider for a moment that Prestia knocked Stewart out, what would the result of the match have been?

Stewart was – and is – plainly one of Geelong’s best players. On Saturday night, despite the hit, he continued to be enormously influential and ultimately took the match-saving mark.

As ever with these things it is ultimately a debate over what the right length of suspension should be? Is it two? No. Three? Maybe. Four? That’s heavy.

Last week The Age ran a series of stories quizzing the heads of clubs on a range of issues. The majority felt the match review and tribunal system was falling short.

This admittedly can be like asking if you think umpires were fair in your match, but the Tom Stewart decision needs to meet public expectation.

(Disclaimer: Tribunal chairman, Jeff Gleeson QC, is my brother)

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/four-points-stewart-s-strife-and-take-outs-as-top-sides-tangle-20220626-p5awmq.html

[Francois Jackson]

Well I’m glad there is at least one other than Kingy, who has called this out.

Why has he suggested Dion is missing 2?

Should only miss one due to protocols shouldn’t he?

[Damo]

Well I’m glad there is at least one other than Kingy, who has called this out.

Why has he suggested Dion is missing 2?

Should only miss one due to protocols shouldn’t he?

Re-read Dan
He’s counting the game against Geelong as one of the two. Indicating that Prestia missed that game and will miss the next.

[Francois Jackson]

Thanks for that Damo.

Is Gleeson a tiger supporter? I seldom read anything stupid from him like the rest of the imbeciles.

They should be ashamed of themselves on this one.

[Damo]

Thanks for that Damo.

Is Gleeson a tiger supporter? I seldom read anything stupid from him like the rest of the imbeciles.

They should be ashamed of themselves on this one.

Chris Scott was shameful in his presser
Cringeworthy
Sticking up for your player is one thing , but that was pathetic

[Francois Jackson]

Well said Kingy

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-news-2022-tom-stewart-hit-on-dion-prestia-video-how-many-weeks-concussion-rules-david-king-first-crack-geelong-vs-richmond/news-story/4310c41551d0f67462421c82b7f5d0cc

[WilliamPowell]

David King is spot on in his comments about the lack of concern for Prestia

The media is only focusing on Stewart. There should be no sympathy for Stewart. Facts are he chose to bump, he lined up Prestia, didn't have eyes for the ball and while airborne took him out.

The minimum of 4 weeks isnt enough

And great opinion piece by Mick Gleeson. It too was spot on 

[The Machine]

How this still happens in the game is staggering. Throw the book at him- 6+

[Francois Jackson]

How this still happens in the game is staggering. Throw the book at him- 6+

tell you why it happens because its us.

Can you imagine what Dimma would have copped if he went down this scum's route as he did in the presser.

This is the second time we have had a heart and soul player knocked out in the first quarter by this scum of a club.

[the claw]

Im all for the bump and with that know there will be some accidental contact.
But common sense please in this case. ball  had gone he ran past the contest and cleaned him up.

Im sure Stewart was only trying to be physical and make Prestia know he was in a game but when it goes wrong you pay the price.

If the ball is there and you run thru a player legally well and good we have to keep that aspect of the game but late bumps off the ball bumps etc
are not on.
I even think if you get it right everything tucked in player can reasonably expect contact and there is accidental contact high then it is nothing more than a free kick.

Imo its raised elbows and arms and blokes head down copping front on contact and blokes down with their head over the ball copping it high at 100 miles an hour from the side.that needs to be rubbed out.

Its gone from running thru blokes with head down from the front and we all applauded that but i really hope we can find the right balance and keep the bump in the game. At the end of the day a huge part of the game has been it a tough hard physical game a  game of contact and we have all played it with eyes wide open knowing that.

We either have the bump in the game and allow players to use it properly without fear of copping 10 weeks or we get rid of it all together which for me will be the death knell its become almost too hard to watch now without even more of the physical stuff taken out.

[georgies31]

Yeah really poor by the media and scum of a club focus been on him not Prestia this is not a coincidence second time.

[one-eyed]

“HE DID WHAT HE DESIGNED TO DO”: KING STAGGERED BY MRO’S STEWART GRADING

By Seb Mottram
SEN
27 June 2022

David King has been left dumbfounded by the Match Review Officer’s decision to grade Tom Stewart’s bump on Dion Prestia as ‘careless’.

Stewart’s bump left Prestia concussed and struggling to get to his feet in confronting scenes for footy fans on Saturday, with the grading handed down a little over 24 hours later on Sunday.

MRO Michael Christian judged the incident to be careless conduct, severe impact and high contact. The severe impact part of the ruling sees Stewart referred directly to the Tribunal, with his ban to start at four weeks.

It was the careless aspect King disagreed with, saying the three-time All-Australian made the choice to run past the football.

“We’re doing it again, how many times do we have to have this chat … if that’s not intentional, I don’t know what is,” the North Melbourne champion told SEN’s Whateley.

“I don’t understand careless. If you go past the ball, shape to bump and execute the perfect bump in terms of the actual bump, what you’ve designed to do, (was) excellence.

“These guys, they’ve got such dexterity, they can do anything.

“It’s amazing how as soon as they make an error, they’re the clumsiest people in the world, but outside of that moment, they’re the most gifted, elite performing athletes we’ve got, so that doesn’t wash with me.

“Now, I think he’s made a mistake, but the actual act is performed with excellence. He did what he designed to do, in that exact moment.”

Post-game, Stewart’s coach Chris Scott said, “of course (the bump) wasn’t (deliberate)” while speaking about Stewart’s exceptional character.

The 2021 Geelong best and fairest winner was captured on the broadcast looking distraught at quarter-time.

However, King said those aspects need to be separated from the action of the bump.

“So he made a poor decision, but the act is what I want to talk about. Not that he’s a good guy, not that he’s made phone calls since, not that he’s shown remorse at quarter time, all of that’s fine, but the act is what we’ve got to take out,” he continued.

“Not who’s done it, the act. This has been graded as careless when it should be intentional, what happened to Dion Prestia should not happen in our game.

“He was a mess, and not one person alive can tell me what the long-lasting effect to Dion Prestia is.

“But I guarantee you that the three minutes we had to sit there and watch him be held up is just awful for our code.

“So I’m not taking the Tom Stewart side of it, I’m taking the action out. The action itself, in my opinion, is all I want to talk about it.”

Prestia was eventually officially subbed off late in the first quarter, with ruckman Ivan Soldo taking his place on the field.

The bump left Richmond without one of their most important players in the three-point loss, while Stewart was free to roam the field and be in the top handful of players.

It’s created a debate about whether the game should have a ‘red card’ or similar system to penalise offenders during the game, Kane Cornes a proponent of the idea..

But King is against the idea.

“I just think it’s impossible to legislate, it’s impossible to get right, and you get it wrong once and it’s too big a penalty to have got wrong,” he stated.

“The system should work as it sits now, but the penalties, for mine, have got to be heavier.”

The Tribunal is likely to sit on Tuesday night to decide Stewart’s fate.

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2022/06/27/he-did-what-he-designed-to-do-king-staggered-by-mros-stewart-grading/

[JP Tiger]

Here comes another, "I'm shocked to be sitting here", speech ...   

[Rampsation]

If we had done what we should have done and king hit the bastard we would have won the game gotten the 4 points. Now we lost dion, lost the game, lost the 4 points and he'll get 3 weeks because geelong get discounts from the AFL.