West Coast defender Tom Barrass has did not overturn his one-match suspension for a harmful deal with, with the membership’s Charlie Cameron-like ‘good man’ defence falling on deaf ears on the AFL Tribunal.
The Eagles’ first line of defence was to argue Barrass’s sling deal with on Fremantle veteran Michael Walters needs to be graded as low influence as an alternative of medium influence.
But when that failed, West Coast counsel David Grace argued Barrass’s clear on-field document and exemplary work locally ought to invoke the AFL’s “distinctive and compelling circumstances” clause and scale back the ban to merely a high quality.
The AFL Tribunal sparked enormous debate final week when it downgraded Cameron’s one-match ban for a harmful deal with to a high quality, citing the Brisbane ahead’s clear enjoying document and off-field character assessments as causes behind the transfer.
However that call, led by tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson, opened a can of worms for different gamers trying to flee suspension.
Given the similarities between the Barrass and Cameron incidents, West Coast additionally went down the ‘good man’ defence at Wednesday’s listening to, given Barrass has by no means been suspended throughout his 138-game AFL profession or 33-game senior WAFL profession.
After deliberating for greater than an hour, the tribunal’s three-person panel discovered Barrass’s deal with constituted a medium degree of influence.
And tribunal chair Renee Enbom mentioned there weren’t sufficient compelling or distinctive circumstances to cut back Barrass’s ban to a high quality.
“That (Cameron) determination turned by itself info. The info listed here are completely different,” Enbom mentioned.
“The distinction listed here are the facets of the harmful deal with.
“The mixture of extreme pressure, pinning of the arm, and forceful rotation created important potential for a head or neck harm.
“Barrass has a commendable document. However we do not think about his document, pretty much as good as it’s, makes it inappropriate or unreasonable to use a one-match suspension.”
Barrass’s work on the McGovern Basis, which assists indigenous folks to acquire and retain their driver’s licence, was closely mentioned when he gave proof.
The 28-year-old’s advocacy work within the battle towards home violence was additionally highlighted.
Barrass additionally detailed his work at Hale College, the place he teaches meditation to 12 months eight college students.
References from teammate Jeremy McGovern, who based the McGovern Basis, and former West Coast chairman Russell Gibbs had been additionally included.
Barrass mentioned he had two interactions with Walters after tackling him and each occasions the Fremantle ahead performed down the incident.
“The primary one we ran previous one another on the bottom and high-fived one another,” Barrass mentioned.
“The second was after the sport, shaking fingers, and I mentioned, ‘are you all good bro?’ and he mentioned, ‘Yeah I am all candy’.”
In Barrass’s defence, Grace argued Walters’s head had truly hit the ball first earlier than making contact with the bottom.
“That may be a important obstacle to the extent of influence,” Grace mentioned.
“The soccer is product of leather-based. If an object falls on it, the thing could cause an indentation on the ball.
“The ball as we all know is filled with air.”
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AFL counsel Andrew Woods challenged that idea.
He additionally identified Barrass’s 138 AFL video games with no suspension should not represent compelling circumstances.
Woods mentioned the influence was clearly medium as an alternative of low.
“You may see the collision of the pinnacle to the bottom,” Woods mentioned.
“Walters opens his mouth, his fingers go to his head.
“There was some frank proof given in regards to the pressure getting used and it was extreme.”
Barrass will miss Sunday’s conflict with Gold Coast in a serious blow to West Coast’s hopes of posting a 3rd straight win.
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