the 'reasonable player' argument was just the tribunal chairman's weak narrative. it was not the reason the mro decision was upheld. the afl was not happy about the lynch and fogarty decisions (mainly about liigation and optics considerations) and decided the next bunny would not be so lucky and jvr suited their desires being young and not a star of the game or from a big powerful club.
if the afl were genuine they would have been more transparent and changed the rules/interprtation around spoiling situation, publicly giving video examples and education. except they didn't have the guts to be upfront and transparent, so chose the backdoor, mates method.