The above reverse angle vision shows Keath putting himself dangerously in no-man's land in front of the oncoming pack with no chance of getting to the ball. The fact he tries all too late to bail out and takes his eyes off the ball shows he has totally misjudged the flight of the ball. No way could Lynch have avoided him and no way is the collision Lynch's fault. In fact, bracing for the collision probably saved Keath from broken ribs or a lost kidney if Lynch has gone with his knees up for the mark.
If Dangerfield had nothing to answer for despite Vlastuin being knocked out with a raised arm because both players were running in opposite directions in the 2020 GF, then so should Lynch here. You can't have different rules for different players because one is the AFL and media's darling and the other is the AFL and media's constant whipping boy.
Firstly, I got it wrong re Jones pushing. There was incident prior that Jones gave a little push
On to this farcical situation
You've hit the nail on the proverbial head MT
If Lynch doesn't brace the damage to Keath would have been a helluva lot worse. That not one Bulldogs player remonstrated shows they didn't think it was malicious but just a footy accident
The AFL needs to stop worrying about the media and its need for a headline and witch-hunts and actually understand that it is still (for now) a contact sport and accident will happen.
