The AFL tribunal has rejected Toby Greene’s claim that his elbow to Patrick Dangerfield’s throat was simply a “football incident”, handing the GWS star a one-match suspension for striking.
Greene was initially offered a two-match ban for his high fend-off against the Geelong star during the Giants’ upset win at GMHBA Stadium last Friday night.
Dangerfield was taken to hospital for assessment and found to have bruising of his laryngeal but no fracture to the area.
Match review officer Michael Christian graded the first-quarter incident as careless conduct, high impact and high contact.
Greene, who was not called to give evidence, pleaded not guilty to the careless conduct aspect of the charge on Tuesday night.
GWS club lawyer and former AFL football operations boss Adrian Anderson also argued the impact should be downgraded to medium.
The three-man jury – consisting of former AFL/VFL players Stewart Loewe, Shane Wakelin and Richard Loveridge – agreed it was medium impact, taking into account an updated medical report on Dangerfield from Geelong.
But the jury upheld Christian’s “careless” grading, resulting in a one-match suspension that will see Greene miss the Giants’ crunch clash with Richmond this week.
“The jury believes (Greene) chose to use a raised elbow to fend off player Dangerfield in circumstances where there was a realistic probability that there would be high contact,” Tribunal chairman Ross Howie said.
Anderson described the incident as a “natural football reaction to attempt to push away from an opponent that we see every weekend”.
He suggested Dangerfield slipping before the contact had contributed to the high contact – a notion which was rejected by AFL legal counsel Jeff Gleeson.
“It was an incident that occurred because of inherently dangerous technique, not because of a so-called ‘football action’ or a reflex action,” Gleeson said.
“It’s a technique that he adopts and it’s a careless technique.”
Gleeson said a not guilty verdict would be a “green light” for other players to adopt a similar technique in future.
The jury deliberated for more than half an hour before handing down its verdict.
Greene’s absence is a huge blow for GWS as they prepare to take on Richmond.
The eighth-placed Giants are just two points clear of a chasing pack of four rival clubs, including the Tigers, with two home-and-away rounds left to play.
AAP
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