West Coast defender Tom Barrass has didn’t overturn his one-match suspension for a harmful sort out, with the membership’s Charlie Cameron-like ‘good man’ defence falling on deaf ears on the AFL Tribunal.
The Eagles’ first line of defence was to argue Barrass’s sling sort out on Fremantle veteran Michael Walters needs to be graded as low impression as an alternative of medium impression.
But when that failed, West Coast counsel David Grace argued Barrass’s clear on-field file and exemplary work locally ought to invoke the AFL’s “distinctive and compelling circumstances” clause and scale back the ban to merely a high-quality.
The AFL Tribunal sparked enormous debate final week when it downgraded Cameron’s one-match ban for a harmful sort out to a high-quality, citing the Brisbane ahead’s clear enjoying file and off-field character assessments as causes behind the transfer.
However that call, led by tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson, opened a can of worms for different gamers making an attempt to flee suspension.
Given the similarities between the Barrass and Cameron incidents, West Coast additionally went down the ‘good man’ defence at Wednesday’s listening to, given Barrass has by no means been suspended throughout his 138-game AFL profession or 33-game senior WAFL profession.
After deliberating for greater than an hour, the tribunal’s three-person panel discovered Barrass’s sort out constituted a medium stage of impression.
And tribunal chair Renee Enbom mentioned there weren’t sufficient compelling or distinctive circumstances to cut back Barrass’s ban to a high-quality.
“That (Cameron) determination turned by itself info. The info listed below are totally different,” Enbom mentioned.
“The distinction listed below are the features of the damaging sort out.
“The mix of extreme power, pinning of the arm, and forceful rotation created vital potential for a head or neck harm.
“Barrass has a commendable file. However we do not think about his file, nearly as good as it’s, makes it inappropriate or unreasonable to use a one-match suspension.”
Barrass’s work on the McGovern Basis, which assists indigenous folks to acquire and retain their driver’s licence, was closely mentioned when he gave proof.
The 28-year-old’s advocacy work within the battle in opposition to home violence was additionally highlighted.
Barrass additionally detailed his work at Hale Faculty, the place he teaches meditation to 12 months eight college students.
References from teammate Jeremy McGovern, who based the McGovern Basis, and former West Coast chairman Russell Gibbs have been additionally included.
Barrass mentioned he had two interactions with Walters after tackling him and each occasions the Fremantle ahead performed down the incident.
“The primary one we ran previous one another on the bottom and high-fived one another,” Barrass mentioned.
“The second was after the sport, shaking palms, and I mentioned, ‘are you all good bro?’ and he mentioned, ‘Yeah I am all candy’.”
In Barrass’s defence, Grace argued Walters’s head had really hit the ball first earlier than making contact with the bottom.
“That could be a vital obstacle to the extent of impression,” Grace mentioned.
“The soccer is made from leather-based. If an object falls on it, the article could cause an indentation on the ball.
“The ball as we all know is stuffed with air.”
AFL counsel Andrew Woods challenged that concept.
He additionally identified Barrass’s 138 AFL video games with out a suspension should not represent compelling circumstances.
Woods mentioned the impression was clearly medium as an alternative of low.
“You may see the collision of the top to the bottom,” Woods mentioned.
“Walters opens his mouth, his palms go to his head.
“There was some frank proof given in regards to the power getting used and it was extreme.”
Barrass will miss Sunday’s conflict with Gold Coast in a serious blow to West Coast’s hopes of posting a 3rd straight win.
Sports activities content material to make you suppose… or enable you to not. A e-newsletter delivered every Saturday.
AAP