The Blues became the first team to successfully overturn a dangerous tackle ban at the Tribunal, with Adam Cerra free to face Melbourne on Friday night.
They argued against the incident being rough conduct, against the incident being a dangerous tackle, and if those fail against the impact grading seeking to lower it from medium to low - a unique case given typically clubs just argue against rough conduct and not also the dangerous tackle.
Cerra noted Luke Parker was pushing him into Sydney’s Tom Hickey before the contest and argued he had “not much grip” on the ruckman.
“I didn’t pin his arms. I didn’t get a grip on the tackle at all. I had fingers around his left tricep and the other arm around his back,” the Blue said.
“I had no other option. Parker on my back, pushing me into his path. With his (Hickey) force coming through, I didn’t have any other option.”
He added, when questioned by Lisa Hannon for the AFL: “I didn’t feel I was in a position of power to use my strength to bring him to ground, it was more his momentum coming through me.”
The scrutiny was on whether Cerra was holding or controlling Hickey, with the Blue arguing: “I wasn’t really grabbing anything to let go of. I was taking in his force.”
Hannon argued: “This isn’t a case of accidental head impact, but a case of almost inevitable head impact ... a reasonable player wouldn’t have considered it prudent to continue to hang on in a rotating tackle.”
However the Blues blamed Hickey for focusing more on possession of the footy than protecting himself.
“Hickey chose to clutch onto the ball. I’ve been told in football it’s called ‘ball security”,” Peter O’Farrell said.
“That was a choice that Hickey made. Instead of releasing the ball and putting his arm out, he chose to hold onto the ball.”
He added: “The size of Hickey is best described as something like that of an oil tanker.”
Tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson responded: “Please tell me you’re not going to call Cerra a tug boat.”
O’Farrell later argued: “Hickey has got long hair. The panel should be careful and not be distracted by the head movement of a player with long hair.”
But the AFL dismissed the Blues' suggestion Cerra had little to no impact on the tackle.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2023-tribunal-live-updates-latest-news-match-review-dangerous-tackles-luke-parker-on-sam-walsh-adam-cerra-on-tom-hickey-rory-laird-on-lachie-neale/news-story/144df62767332aa76aa18b11b09fe04c
