The GWS Giants will be without captain Toby Greene for their huge clash with the Brisbane Lions after they failed to overturn his one-match ban at the AFL tribunal on Tuesday night.
In a highly publicised case, Greene was cited for rough conduct after a collision with Carlton defender Jordan Boyd.
Greene led at the ball and jumped for a mark but turned his body and made contact with the head of Boyd, who was going back with the flight of the ball.
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Boyd got up immediately to take a free kick and played out the match.
Greene’s actions were graded as careless conduct, medium impact and high contact, but that decision was highly criticised by several former AFL champions.
St Kilda legend Nick Riewoldt said it was “a shame for our game” and questioned “the powers that be” who were taking football in that direction.
And former Brisbane champ Jonathan Brown wondered if the game was turning into Gaelic football.
“That’s not a knock on Gaelic football, but are we heading in that direction? Is our game going to be there in the next 10-15 years?” he said on On the Couch.
But others compared Greene’s bump to the Peter Wright collision with Harry Cunningham when the Bombers played Sydney in Round 2.
The big Essendon forward was banned for four matches for the incident, however, the Giants insisted at the tribunal that their case was very different.
They argued Wright was later to the contest and he had more time to decide not to make the contest. They also said Wright appeared to make no effort to mark the ball. Cunningham was also knocked out in the collision.
But despite their pleas, the tribunal decided the ban would remain, sparking many frustrated fans to vent on social media.
“Disgraceful,” one fan blasted on X (formerly Twitter), while others simply said “Toby tax” (referring to Greene’s poor record and a perceived negative bias against him.
Another fumed: “This is 100 per cent the wrong decision. No more big marking contests. The AFL are destroying the game.”
While another said: “Our great game is slipping away.”
Others, however, thought Greene should have received a longer ban.
“Should’ve been given more. The moment he was given one and Wright was given four showed outcome not action was considered,” one fan said.
And another said: “Penalty should not be based on whether the infringed opponent gets lucky with injury. Basing it on the action was what the AFL promised and has failed to deliver.”
Earlier, the Giants were successful in their bid to get key forward Jesse Hogan off a striking charge and a one-game suspension.
Hogan was banned by the match review officer, who graded the incident with Carlton defender Lewis Young as intentional conduct, low impact and high contact.
But the tribunal panel dismissed the charge, saying there was not enough force from Hogan to grade it as low impact.
“Hogan gave impressively candid evidence, including acknowledging he did swing with force to try and push Young,” tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson said.
“We are not clearly satisfied there was anything more than negligible.”
Hogan admitted he and Young engaged in “some words” and felt he was a “bit harshly treated”.
“We got into some push-and-shove and it ricocheted off his arm and initially thought I scraped his nose,” he told the tribunal.
“When I initially did it, I actually didn’t think I had landed anything.
“Until he started to say I’d ‘get a week for that’, I didn’t comprehend anything.
“We addressed it after the game. We smoothed it over directly after.”
Veteran sports journalist Mark Robinson said he was in shock that Hogan was cleared.
“(So you can) throw a jab at a player, connect with him, and they say, ‘Oh no, you didn’t hit him too hard’?’ Robinson said on AFL 360.
“Come on AFL, come on tribunal.
“I think the tribunal this year has really let people down.
“I’m staggered by that decision.”