Why Berry swerved suspension for his tackle on Swan Hayward
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Brisbane midfielder Jarrod Berry has avoided suspension in a win for the bring-down tackle, but not before the AFL came under fire from confused experts over umpires’ enforcement of dangerous tackles.
The match review officer determined Berry had no case to answer for his tackle on Sydney’s Will Hayward on Friday night, deeming he had shown a sufficient duty of care to the Swan, who was not injured in the incident. Berry released Hayward’s left arm in the tackle, then pinned his right hand as they came to ground.
“Will Hayward takes possession of ball on the wing and is tackled by Berry,” the league said in its findings. “It was the view of the MRO that Berry discharged his duty of care in the manner he took Hayward to ground and that his actions were not unreasonable in the circumstances. No further action was taken.”
The tackle will come under the spotlight again on Monday night when Hawthorn captain James Sicily appeals a three-game rough conduct suspension for his tackle on Brisbane’s Hugh McCluggage.
St Kilda forward Dan Butler last week became the third player to have a rough conduct charge for a dangerous tackle overturned at the tribunal.
Geelong veteran Isaac Smith called for umpires to blow the whistle earlier, which would reduce the length of tackles and the risk of players hitting their heads on the ground.
“I know tackles have gone up a lot over the year, but we don’t pay incorrect disposals anymore,” Smith said on SEN.
“If we blow the whistle quicker, if we pay incorrect disposal – which is an actual rule that’s been in the game forever and a day that we don’t pay anymore – [we could start to fix this].
“Not that I ever want it to come to this, but it feels like it’s going to get to the stage where players will not be able to take players to ground.”
Hawthorn champion Dermott Brereton criticised the AFL for its failure to appoint a new head of football. Laura Kane has filled the role in an interim capacity after Brad Scott’s departure to coach Essendon last year.
“I’m just questioning, where are we at?” Brereton said on Fox Footy.
“When a bloke cocks an elbow, runs in and elbows a bloke with the footy in the jaw, and we’re saying he might get one [week], maybe two, and yet we’re examining blokes committing to football acts of tackle and putting them out for three weeks.
“We need a footy CEO at the AFL for someone to answer us all these questions”.
There was outrage among former players after Berry had his number taken and conceded a free kick for rough conduct.
“We know the ones we don’t want – the Nathan Broad one earlier in the year, and he got four weeks for that. That was a clear tackle and sling and dump to the ground, and we don’t want that,” Richmond great Matthew Richardson said.
“He’s a fierce competitor [Berry]. In the moment, you’ve got to go from fierce competitor to being gentle in a split second – you can’t. You can’t switch your mindset like that so quickly.
“I don’t see that as a dump at all. They are both spinning around.”
Meanwhile, Sydney forward Sam Wicks was given a two–game suspension for his late hit on Ryan Lester.
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