Simple really, the club should not have to deal with this. The AFL must step in.

Time to earn your money Mark Evans lets see if you are a man or a politician.

Simple really, the club should not have to deal with this. The AFL must step in.

Time to earn your money Mark Evans lets see if you are a man or a politician.

Can he? Or is the player (or the club, on behalf of the player) the only one who can appeal?

If he has the power to do so, I'd like to think someone in the media will ask him if he intends to do so.

What happened to the customer is always right?

we want bumps, we want physicality, we don't want young blokes second guessing attacking the footy because they might get suspended.

even Tom Lynch thought Viney should get off!

Can he? Or is the player (or the club, on behalf of the player) the only one who can appeal?

If he has the power to do so, I'd like to think someone in the media will ask him if he intends to do so.

Talking about it on SEN and apparently Evans can send this to the appeals board without reference to tribunal.

Can he? Or is the player (or the club, on behalf of the player) the only one who can appeal?

If he has the power to do so, I'd like to think someone in the media will ask him if he intends to do so.

Yes he can. Don't know the exact wording but he can where a 'clanger' has occurred. Not just the Club but AFLPA should be lobbying Evans to do so.

I have it on good authority we will be appealing the case and a QC lawyer will be taking it on and representing Viney. Stay tuned.

Well, if Evans can appeal it, I'd like to think we can engineer circumstances where he'd feel obliged to do so. An appeal from Evans would likely carry much more weight than one from Viney or the club.

Any ideas on how to get Evans to appeal? I would have thought sustained pressure from the media and particularly former players who work in the media.

I doubt Evans will appeal.

I think the AFL wants players suspended when serious facial injuries are suffered. They want to send a message to parents that footy is a safe game to play. They are worried about increased participation by young kids in soccer. They probably think that parents may prefer their kids to play soccer as they are less likely to get hurt.

There is no other way I can justify the decision of the tribunal last night. How can three panel members have views so different to the vast majority of the footy public?

My view is entirely consistent with the approach of the tribunal when it comes to head injuries, which is basing the verdict on the injury suffered and not on the conduct of the player charged.

We must appeal.

Evans would never appeal his own tribunal, it would send a bad message that they're not on the same page. At best they'll look at this at the end of the year and amend the interpretation.

Thankfully it sounds like we're appealing it.

I'm pretty sure Evans told the tribunal that they're not to leave the building without a guilty verdict.

Viney was always going to get rubbed out.

Evans would never appeal his own tribunal, it would send a bad message that they're not on the same page. At best they'll look at this at the end of the year and amend the interpretation.

Thankfully it sounds like we're appealing it.

Maybe that's why Evans needs to appeal it. To get the tribunal back on the same page as the entire football community.

Whoa. Careful. BBP's post, which I daren't republish by quoting it, looks dangerously defamatory to me. Of course, if there's proof to back up the claim, that's a page 1 Herald-Sun story and BBP wins a Walkley award.

This is not a matter just for the MFC. It's a MUCH bigger issue than that!

In fact, ALL 18 AFL clubs and the Players' Association should be mounting a united, collective protest to the AFL over this.

The silence from Gill and Evans is deafening. You'd think a CEO in his first week of the job would want to make a stamp on the game he just inherited. One that won't tarnish the rest of his tenure as the man who ruined AFL.

Had high hopes for Evans when he was installed.

If he can't see this as the biggest howler yet by the independent(?) judiciary, then all hope is lost.

Gillon plans to make footy more affordable for the public.

Pretty much shot down 5 minutes later by the stadium operators.

They promise much & deliver nothing.

Despite everything that we have gone through over the last decade, I have remained a passionate Demon and footy fan.

I will always consider myself a Demon, but if this verdict stands I can't see myself remaining a fan of the football played in the AFL. They can get [censored], will start going to Rebels and Heart games instead.

The silence from Gill and Evans is deafening. You'd think a CEO in his first week of the job would want to make a stamp on the game he just inherited. One that won't tarnish the rest of his tenure as the man who ruined AFL.

The worst thing the AFL CEO could do right now is get himself involved in a specific case which is to be heard by an independent appeals board.

However, once this matter is finally resolved, whatever the outcome, he should require a wholesale review of the MRP and Tribunal system as well as the rules (laws) of the game which lead to the decisions the MRP and Tribunal make.

I'm pretty sure Evans told the tribunal that they're not to leave the building without a guilty verdict.

Viney was always going to get rubbed out.

Agree Evans is a major part of the problem not part of any solution.

Where has the AFLPA been in all this?

Demetriou just said that he believes Evans should look at it ,because Melbourne were hard done by.

Demetriou just said that he believes Evans should look at it ,because Melbourne were hard done by.

I was shocked too.....it seems like 98% of footy experts are against the decision.

Demetriou just said that he believes Evans should look at it ,because Melbourne were hard done by.

Good...it is still wednesday...this howler can be sorted before Saturday night....What the AFL must do is fix up the MRP and the tribunual...

There are too many rigid guidelines that they must follow.

EACH CASE MUST BE HEARD ON ITS OWN MERITS.

Even with a succesful outcome for Jack this will take a lot out of him, I know he is a strong lad and one out of the box but should the verdict be overturned and he play a blinder on the weekend then for his age he is even stronger mentally then I thought.

Even with a succesful outcome for Jack this will take a lot out of him, I know he is a strong lad and one out of the box but should the verdict be overturned and he play a blinder on the weekend then for his age he is even stronger mentally then I thought.

Jack says High on the way to his next match