Brisbane have successfully overturned Charlie Cameron’s one-match suspension but a big injury blow means they must still make at least one change for Saturday’s blockbuster clash with Geelong.
The Lions fronted the AFL tribunal on Tuesday night hoping to have their star forward’s dump tackle on Melbourne’s Jake Lever reclassified from medium impact to low.
Those arguments failed but the tribunal remarkably used “exceptional and compelling circumstances” of Cameron’s good record to downgrade the ban to a fine — but while he will line up against the Cats, teammate Zac Bailey won’t be there.
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Scans confirmed a high ankle sprain for Bailey after the 24-year-old reported ankle soreness following Brisbane’s win over the Demons.
“The club is seeking further medical advice, however, it’s expected Bailey will miss four to six weeks,” the Lions said.
The Cameron-Bailey double blow will rob coach Chris Fagan of serious firepower and creativity against a Geelong side set to welcome back Patrick Dangerfield and Tom Hawkins.
Tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson said Cameron’s tackle on Lever was careless but at the lower end of seriousness, and noted Cameron had to complete the tackle in a rotating manner to avoid Lever – who is 20kg heavier than him – crushing him due to momentum.
The hearing went on a bizarre sidebar to define the word ‘exemplary’, which was used to describe Cameron’s behaviour on and off the field.
Character references from Adelaide and Carlton champion Eddie Betts and an Indigenous elder also helped sway the tribunal, but they were most taken by his previous disciplinary record.
The tribunal also noted that Lever was uninjured in the incident.
“His 207 games suspension-free puts him in a very small minority … only 668 players of the 13,125 who have played the game at the elite level have played 200 games,” Gleeson said.
“Almost half of those have been suspended for one match or more. Mr Cameron is clearly in the unusual category in this regard.”
Brisbane sought to have Cameron’s charge downgraded after Lever was uninjured in the dump tackle and returned to play the rest of the game last Thursday.
Cameron argued Lever’s momentum caused him to “lose control of the tackle”, but said he had added no extra force, while noting the Demons defender had an arm free to break his fall.
He pointed out that Lever threw his head up after it hit the ground, but said he was looking at the umpire for a free kick and it wasn’t the force of the tackle that had caused his head to bounce.
Tribunal counsel Sally Flynn said it was the potential to cause injury that warranted the medium grading, labelling the tackle “inherently dangerous”.
Lever’s “vulnerable” position, the angle and rotation of the tackle and the extent of the force were relied on to argue for medium impact.
Brisbane star Josh Dunkley had said on Tuesday players are “manipulating” the rules to convince umpires but stopped short of accusing Lever.
“At times you get tackled and your head hits the ground and you try and get a free kick because that’s going to put you in a position to move forward,” Dunkley said on Tuesday ahead of the hearing.
“Those little things should be looked at.
“I feel like, it may not be in this instance, but other instances where players are trying to manipulate that and get free kicks, which is hard when you look at instances like this because sometimes they can assist the tackle where the action’s there.”
– with AAP
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