SaberFang

Interesting post on BF forums: The appeal should be very very simple to make in fact. The Tribunal rules offer two circumstances under the Rough Conduct(High Bump) section, in which players will be found not guilty. One of these is: "The player was contesting the ball and did not have a realistic alternative way to contest the ball;" Gleeson made the AFL's case that Viney had a duty of care which required him to avoid the contest. There is no such requirement in the rules. The AFL made no attempt to suggest that tackling was a realistic alternative to contest the ball, they suggested the alternative was avoiding the contest altogether. If the tribunal ruled on the basis that Viney had a duty to avoid the contest in order to fulfil his duty of care they ruled incorrectly and it should be overturned.

Nathan Buckley's hysterical laugh and eye roll of utter disbelief said it all tonight on 360. That the tribunal actually said a player should have moved aside rather than contest the ball would have to be a senior coaches worst nightmare.

What other exciting father/son prospects might we have over the next few years? The Farmer boys?

Bit stiff on Crossy not being there. Think he might sneak in a BOG performance this weekend.

In a idealistic world, I wish the captains of both teams would get together and form a united front to spend the first quarter of this match standing idle. Get players into position, wait for the opening bounce, then every player on the ground stands where they are and doesn't move from their positions. Such is the idiocy of the ruling on Viney tonight. The AFL is saying "don't you dare attack the ball because you'll get found guilty and rubbed out if forces beyond your control result in an injury." Well, this would make quite the statement to the morons at AFL House who are intent on destroying the game.

While the suspensions are frustrating, if it's because our players are playing hard as nails that's a positive we can take away from it. Kent would've been a straight slot for Viney though, so that's a shame. Could be Riley's chance now, Michie would be too far off because of his broken jaw. Oh, by the way, who got suspended for breaking Michie's jaw? Nobody? Nobody even sighted? Yeah, thought so.

And hardly appropriate to make a political statement like this on a night where we want to spread awareness about breast cancer, and the thousands who die each year fighting for their lives in a hospital bed.

Channel 10 about to have a report on their late news about the outrage and fallout over the Viney decision.

What we urgently need to do is bring in experts (thank God Roosy and PJ have industry connections coming out the wazoo) to find prior incidents of similar nature that went unreported, and we need to find a sports scientist who can debunk the AFL's entire argument. Look at the speed he was going, do measurements on the various inclinations and directions of the players, and definitively prove it was impossible for Viney to do anything except what he did. There'll be plenty of sports scientists who will put their hand up to help.

I love, as a Crows player, that Tex Walker also came to our defense. Would be great to hear from Lynch in all this, but I'm guessing he's in hospital.

Campbell Brown on Twitter rallying players to get behind the MFC.

Boy, if you were a Bulldogs player, I reckon you'd be just about [censored] yourself right now.

Have it on good authority the media will be savaging the AFL for this decision and the farcical implications they're making for the game. Predicting a huge fallout.

Yes, Gleeson, he should've spun around! Maybe in that half second he could've also backflipped, cartwheeled and somersaulted into the goal square!

Did they all go to Bernie's pub for dinner afterwards before flying home? Loving the camaraderie off field, I don't even remember a time in the past when it seemed so healthy and optimistic. Especially only 5 weeks after our lapse against the Eagles.

Bloody autocorrect!

Just heard Richmond will be appealing Brett Deledio's low impact but intentional elbow to the head, one match suspension. Will have an interesting bearing on our match next week, because he's definitely one of their best players and makes a huge difference to their on field performance. Surprised they didn't take the one match ban. It was an international elbow to the head!

Michie as Viney's replacement? If he gets rubbed out of course... He'd have to be about due for a VFL match though wouldn't Viv?

Didn't he kick that on his jarred toe? [censored] we got lucky in that final minute or two, despite the [censored] ups.

Fell off my chair tonight when Damo Barrett admitted, ON AIR, on FC that he might have been wrong about his criticism of the Kelly/Salem/Tyson deal. Respect due where respect is due.

Brad Scott also weighed into the debate on Footy Classified, and although he couldn't outright state his opinion (inappropriate for a coach), he made it very clear he thinks what the tribunal will do and what he hopes the tribunal do are two very different things. Obviously hoping he gets off.

Ollie Wines re-tweeted Robbo's comment on his Twitter feed. Love that kid, wish he was a Dee https://twitter.com/wines16

Last time he played Richmond he was the match winner and most impressive on ground for my liking. Maybe the rematch will be his week.

Will echo everyone above though, JKH will have his day. Just infuriating never seeing this team ever get any credit!

Oh, JKH also had Dermie's goal of the round and Langdon didn't score. But, you know.. Melbourne! We have no talent!