“The evidence indicates that he did reduce his speed by about 25 per cent prior to impact,” Gleeson said.
“But given that he was running at about as fast as he could, given that he was approaching Cleary from front on, given that Cleary had his head over the ball and given that he could not reasonably predict what position Cleary would be in at the moment of impact, he slowed too little and too late.
“His duty of care required him to slow more appreciably and earlier to give himself the opportunity to avoid or minimise head high contact.”
Play was stopped and Cleary received medical attention before being taken to hospital. The 23-year will miss the Bulldogs’ AFL/VFL centenary celebration match against Collingwood on Friday night under concussion protocols.
The round one incident attracted significant debate about high-speed collisions and about which players are at fault with contact below the knees.
“You can’t legislate accidents out of the game,” St Kilda’s 336-game champion Nick Riewoldt told Triple M about the incident.
“Jackson Archer is lucky not to have a broken leg. It’s a violent collision.”
The Kangaroos argued the clash was simply an accident.
“This was an awful collision that involved two brave footballers. It’s an unfortunate accident. It’s not more than that,” said Archer’s advocate, Justin Graham, KC.
But Andrew Woods, acting for the AFL, said Archer had different options than approaching at pace.
“It was unreasonable for Archer to maintain the momentum that he did, not really being in a position to take possession of the ball and in the fact of Cleary going low to try and collect the ball,” Woods said.
“The reason we don’t see these types of incidents very often … is because players simply take more care in a situation like this.
“He does take what appear to be two short steps, attempting to slow, but by then it was too late … he knew he wasn’t going to get to the ball first.”
Throughout this evidence, Archer stressed that players were coached to play a pressing defence. He said that’s why he was approaching the contest at his fastest possible speed and he didn’t want to get “leapfrogged” by his opponent.
“When he starts to pick up the ball, I’m starting to slow down enough where I can make a fair tackle. It’s not until his knee hits the ground that I realise he’s chosen to go to ground,” Archer said.
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Asked if he thought or anticipated that the Bulldog would go to ground, Archer said: “No, not at all. Not until his knee hit the ground”.
“I’m bracing trying to stop my momentum,” he added. “My bum’s down, trying to slow down as much as I can, hit the brakes, obviously he’s going to ground. I don’t want to be in that situation and I don’t want him to be in that situation either.”
The fourth-year player – the son of North Melbourne great Glenn Archer – said his opponent’s head made contract with the patella in his knee “quite hard”.
“Right on the bone,” Archer said while being quizzed by his advocate about the collision.
“I was in shock. It all happened so quickly … I was in a fair bit of pain.
“I knew something had hit me … I didn’t know that Luke was injured until I got up off the ground. That’s when I realised that Luke was hurt pretty badly.”
Under cross-examination, Archer was asked if he could have slowed down earlier.
“No, I don’t think so … the ball is in dispute, it’s an egg-shaped ball, you don’t know which way it’s going to bounce,” he said.
Scrimshaw out for three over whack on Ridley
Hawthorn backman Jack Scrimshaw had his three-match suspension upheld on a marathon night at the AFL Tribunal.
Scrimshaw copped his ban for his high hit on Essendon’s Jordan Ridley at the MCG on Friday.
Scrimshaw, who did not speak, pleaded guilty to striking Ridley, to careless contact and high contact but Hawthorn unsuccessfully submitted it should be high impact, not severe, in a bid to reduce the ban to two games.
Jack Scrimshaw’s hook on Essendon’s Jordan Ridley.Credit: Channel Seven
Ridley was assessed post-contact and was later diagnosed with concussion and will miss at least one game.
Scrimshaw is already out of Thursday’s game against Carlton after he was concussed in a head clash with teammate Josh Battle. He will also be suspended for games against GWS and Port Adelaide.
AAP
Lynch’s one-match ban upheld
Richmond spearhead Tom Lynch will miss the Tigers’ clash with Port Adelaide on Saturday after his one-match suspension for rough conduct on Carlton’s Tom De Koning was upheld.
Richmond argued Lynch’s contact with De Koning in Thursday night’s clash, where his shoulder hit the Blue’s jaw, was due to Carlton defender Jacob Weitering pushing the forward.
“I’m in a vulnerable position and I react to get my head out of the dangerous position it was in,” Lynch said.
Lynch said he had not attempted to bump or make high contact.
The bump in question: Tom Lynch’s clash with Tom De Koning.Credit: Channel Seven
AFL lawyer Andrew Woods argued the Weitering push was “not of any significant force” and Lynch had opted to bump.
After just 17 minutes of deliberating, the tribunal of Gleeson, Scott Stevens and Paul Williams found Lynch had intended to bump De Koning and did so, and it was not caused by the push from Weitering.
The rough conduct charge and “careless” grading were upheld.
