North Melbourne AFL coach Brad Scott has backed the match review panel’s decision to clear Scott Thompson but says the rule on head-high contact still needs changing.
Adelaide’s Thompson collided with Geelong midfielder Steve Johnson during the opening seconds last weekend and it was game over for Johnson.
However the panel ruled that no charge would be laid against Thompson because a push from Geelong’s Joel Corey led Brownlow Medal contender Thompson to accidentally land a head-high bump on Johnson.
The Kangaroos are still seething over the four-match suspension handed out to their vice-captain Jack Ziebell following his high bump on Carlton’s Aaron Joseph in round 16, even though the tribunal found Ziebell was going for the ball.
The push by Corey gave the panel an excuse to avoid laying a charge, Scott added.
“My attitude was two wrongs don’t make a right so I thought the correct decision was made,” Scott told reporters.
“I was rapt to see Scott Thompson get the verdict most people thought he should have got.
“When Jack was suspended, I said I hope this doesn’t set a really disappointing precedent for our game.
“I’m just very thankful that Joel Corey touched Scott Thompson because it gave the match review panel the out they needed.
“I would have loved to have seen the decision had Joel Corey not touched him.
“That’s going to be the contentious one in the future.
“It was a pure accident but the way the rules are written at the moment, we need to have a really strong look at it at the end of the year.”
Scott said a player had a fraction of a second to decide if he should pull out of a contest to avoid causing serious injury.
“As an industry we pillory players who pull out of contests,” Scott said.
“We need to have a look at the rules regarding head-high contact.
“We need to load up heavily against players who make the player their sole objective and choose to bump.
“If they take them high then they should suffer the full consequences.
“But innocuous accidental incidents are going to happen in a full-contact sport. We need to make sure we’re not losing our good players through innocuous accidental incidents.”
Scott said the Kangaroos are determined to play a role in any review of the head-high rules.
“We’ll go through the formal channels to make sure that when we’re consulted on those rules, we put forward what we believe is in the best interests of the game,” he said.
“It’s not simply going to be what North Melbourne says. It will be a groundswell of public opinion and a groundswell of opinions from the AFL clubs.
“The AFL clubs appoint the commissioners and the commissioners appoint the executives, so I think the clubs have got to have a fair voice to make sure that the game’s being played the way they think it should be played.”
