1 hour ago, TheoX said:

If the AFL has any integrity he won't play next week.

Ellis will be missing too.

Couldn't agree more, if they are fair dinkum (AFL) they are both gone.........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

44 minutes ago, Dockett 32 said:

Really! I thought it was the seat of their pants.

really! i thought it was the carlton medical report

2 hours ago, TheoX said:

If the AFL has any integrity he won't play next week.

Ellis will be missing too.

 

47 minutes ago, Demon Disciple said:

even if he just gets a fine, he automatically gets a suspension already having been fined twice this season.

So either he gets off scott free, or he misses. He shouldn't miss, but if the AFL are consistent (MRP and tribunal included) he will be missing.

So you are both saying that he will be all clear to play??

3 hours ago, Return to Glory said:

Has our game become so crazy that a player can be suspended for attempting to bump his opponent? Forget the precedents, fines, mrp etc, it's all crap and absolute over-policing of the game imo

He didn't attempt to bump, he did bump and he bumped his opponent who had his head down going for the ball, got him on the head and concussed him putting him out for the game. If that happened to one of our players and/or we were playing Richmond next week and he got off you'd be filthy (and rightly so).

Great player and leader. Hope he plays. 

I thought it was a shoulder to shoulder bump.

The head contact was head to head. If you want to blame anyone Shiel has the bigger head

Edited September 23, 20177 yr by Barney Rubble

Strangely i could see the argument as:

You (cotchin ) had the time, the wherewithal and awareness to pull your arm in but werent able to avoid the contest ?

This of course is true . Also true no one can stop on a sixpence once committed. 

Its vexed. Im damn curious how the AFL will get out of this. They will...but how ?

3 hours ago, Watts the matter said:

The poster confused me by saying Viney did the exact same thing.

Very different, Viney was upright and Lynch dropped into him.

Cotchin accelerated, braced for a bump and basically dived causing injury.

Viney knocked out Shannon Hurn this year jumping for the ball and wasn't cited but I think this is different. Does provide an avenue for them to argue it though.

If he gets rubbed out then our sport has some serious problems. I feel for Shiel being unable to continue but in a high contact sport like AFL these things happen. I have no faith in the MRP but surely common sense can apply here.

5 minutes ago, Jibroni said:

If he gets rubbed out then our sport has some serious problems. I feel for Shiel being unable to continue but in a high contact sport like AFL these things happen. I have no faith in the MRP but surely common sense can apply here.

Shiel was at the ball first, had won the ball and was in an extremely vulnerable position. Cotchin elected to bump, he didn't try and tackle or dive for the ball. He charged in with arm tucked, got him in the head and concussed him. The rules are there to protect the ball players.

I don't really understand how there is an argument about this. If it's a suspension in a NAB challenge game or in round 5 it's a suspension in the preliminary final. The rules don't just change in September.

Edited September 23, 20177 yr by Dr. Gonzo

Looking for some advice peeps. The wife is a Richmond AFL Gold Member and I'm a Melbourne Gold member. Tickets for participating teams go on sale 10am tomorrow, non-participating teams go on sale at 2pm. Obviously I'm keen to sit with my wife so ideally I'd grab 2 tickets at 2pm. On the flip side I'd feel terrible if my wife misses out on a ticket. Do I run the gauntlet and grab 2 tickets at 2pm? Or just buy separate and sit separately? Haven't bought tickets to a Granny before so not sure how to play it.

36 minutes ago, monoccular said:

 

So you are both saying that he will be all clear to play??

He's probably just as likely to receive an apology from Gil for Shiel putting him in such a precarious position as he is to getting suspended.

Maybe if he was offered a plea bargain where he is allowed to play in the GF but has to go in with a different hairstyle to the one he has been adopting for the last umpteenth years.

No gel or no grand final, going by the obvious amount of product and dedication he puts into his hair each game, it will very much be a 50/50 decision for Cotch to make.

1 minute ago, Wizza said:

Looking for some advice peeps. The wife is a Richmond AFL Gold Member and I'm a Melbourne Gold member. Tickets for participating teams go on sale 10am tomorrow, non-participating teams go on sale at 2pm. Obviously I'm keen to sit with my wife so ideally I'd grab 2 tickets at 2pm. On the flip side I'd feel terrible if my wife misses out on a ticket. Do I run the gauntlet and grab 2 tickets at 2pm? Or just buy separate and sit separately? Haven't bought tickets to a Granny before so not sure how to play it.

buy and buy again... you will easily sell them whatever the outcome if you have one extra

1 minute ago, Wizza said:

Looking for some advice peeps. The wife is a Richmond AFL Gold Member and I'm a Melbourne Gold member. Tickets for participating teams go on sale 10am tomorrow, non-participating teams go on sale at 2pm. Obviously I'm keen to sit with my wife so ideally I'd grab 2 tickets at 2pm. On the flip side I'd feel terrible if my wife misses out on a ticket. Do I run the gauntlet and grab 2 tickets at 2pm? Or just buy separate and sit separately? Haven't bought tickets to a Granny before so not sure how to play it.

Go for both options, if you are lucky to get tickets both times, sell the single to a no doubt desperate Tiger fan so they get to enjoy the day (35 year wait for a grand final is a very long time between drinks).

Agree buy as many tix as possible 

12 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Shiel was at the ball first, had won the ball and was in an extremely vulnerable position. Cotchin elected to bump, he didn't try and tackle or dive for the ball. He charged in with arm tucked, got him in the head and concussed him. The rules are there to protect the ball players.

I don't really understand how there is an argument about this. If it's a suspension in a NAB challenge game or in round 5 it's a suspension in the preliminary final. The rules don't just change in September.

Yes he was but it was still a football contest and the contact was incidental, Shiel would have known contact was coming. 

To miss a GF for that would be a travesty.

Simply No.

56 minutes ago, Jibroni said:

If he gets rubbed out then our sport has some serious problems. I feel for Shiel being unable to continue but in a high contact sport like AFL these things happen. I have no faith in the MRP but surely common sense can apply here.

The sport HAD serious problems around head high contact. You simply cannot opt to bump - when the option is there to tackle. That is it, very clear cut. The AFL actually could not make this anymore clear cut. I do have sympathy for Trent though. He is going to miss out on a grand final. But as someone who knows the game as much as I do, I know the game of AFL is inherently flawed. There is a MASSIVE grey area in entering a contest. I have spoken to players at the AFL level and they know it. Once players weren't allowed to dive on the football, you have some that are still allowed (Danger, and Cotchin has been this year), and most that aren't. The end result is Cotchin goes to approach a contest tonight in the same manner that he has been all year (and been getting away with). So in a way it is the umpires fault for not umpiring all players in the same manner. If they had of pulled Cotchin up during the year then he would have adjusted his approach. But make no mistake, the game is very grey at present. VERY.

6 minutes ago, KingDingAling said:

The sport HAD serious problems around head high contact. You simply cannot opt to bump - when the option is there to tackle. That is it, very clear cut. The AFL actually could not make this anymore clear cut. I do have sympathy for Trent though. He is going to miss out on a grand final. But as someone who knows the game as much as I do, I know the game of AFL is inherently flawed. There is a MASSIVE grey area in entering a contest. I have spoken to players at the AFL level and they know it. Once players weren't allowed to dive on the football, you have some that are still allowed (Danger, and Cotchin has been this year), and most that aren't. The end result is Cotchin goes to approach a contest tonight in the same manner that he has been all year (and been getting away with). So in a way it is the umpires fault for not umpiring all players in the same manner. If they had of pulled Cotchin up during the year then he would have adjusted his approach. But make no mistake, the game is very grey at present. VERY.

Yes it is very grey. But that isn't Cotchin's fault, nor should it be his problem.

The AFL have created this problem, Cotchin shouldn't be punished for their inept management of the game. AFL created the problem, they should be the one's that deal with the consequences.

Cotchin should go, but the AFL should have been doing the job that they are paid to do (strengthen the standard of our game), something Gil & Co have been failing miserably at for so long, and to the detriment of our game.

Edited September 23, 20177 yr by Demon Disciple

9 minutes ago, Demon Disciple said:

Yes it is very grey. But that isn't Cotchin's fault, nor should it be his problem.

The AFL have created this problem, Cotchin shouldn't be punished for their inept management of the game. AFL created the problem, they should be the one's that deal with the consequences.

Cotchin should go, but the AFL should have been doing the job that they are paid to do (strengthen the standard of our game), something Gil & Co have been failing miserably at for so long, and to the detriment of our game.

Good post. I agree. I will give the AFL one thing though - they are clear about the bump. The way Cotchin plays though, it is similar to the way Angus Brayshaw was playing before his concussions. And this isn't Brayshaw's fault. He played a certain way in juniors and then the game of AFL is played differently. Because Cotchin has changed up his game style, he needed to be told not to approach the contest in a reckless manner. If all players slowed down approaching a contest, there would be less injuries and suspensions. I suspect the AFL would be pulling their hair out atm. Because they can't exactly come out and define how players should attack the contest. With this suspension though Cotchin will adjust his approach in the future.

Edited September 23, 20177 yr by KingDingAling

So which part of the your body can contact an opponents head?

The AFL is definitely to blame. The AFL is run by people who have short term goals adjusting our game rapidly for their own benefits.

If your a stickler for the current rules that's your choice. But this is almost more of an issue of Aussie Rules suddenly not being the enjoyable game people thought it was.

13 minutes ago, red&blue1982 said:

So which part of the your body can contact an opponents head?

The AFL is definitely to blame. The AFL is run by people who have short term goals adjusting our game rapidly for their own benefits.

If your a stickler for the current rules that's your choice. But this is almost more of an issue of Aussie Rules suddenly not being the enjoyable game people thought it was.

The whole situation is a farce ... deliberate targeting of the head should be penalised but incidental contact to the head due to normal football moves not so.  The same principle could be applied to the contentious 'around-the-neck' adjudication. 

They need to make it simple and clear cut rather than create more grey areas.

It's not rocket science but the AFL are trying their best to make it that way. 

Was there much difference between Sloan and Dangerfield and Cotchin and Shiel contacts? Both were going for the ball and in past  years when footy was even tougher both would have been dragged by the coach for chickening out if they did not contest the ball. What were they supposed to do? Let the opponent have a free access to the ball? 

Edited September 23, 20177 yr by Bobby McKenzie

I'm a little too inebriated now to explain my theory about the AFL projections of the game in years to come, but I can say with pretty good confidence that it's model will be a game that is the most inclusive to the most people possible. It makes sense business wise. I'd like to be proven wrong. 

I wonder if clubs will start to separate from the AFL soon.

My view is that on that incident alone he wouldn't miss.

But he's a serial sniper and his priors should be about to bite him.

On a side note, losing Sheil at that point in the game was a huge turning point.