Michael Christian says it was the easiest call he’s made all season but the AFL match review officer’s decision to suspend West Coast ruckman Nic Naitanui for rough conduct has divided opinion ahead of Wednesday night’s tribunal hearing.
Naitanui was initially scheduled to front the tribunal on Tuesday night after being handed a one-game ban for a heavy tackle which concussed Port Adelaide’s Karl Amon.
But the hearing was pushed backed 24 hours at the request of the Eagles, allowing the club’s regular legal counsel David Grace QC to represent Naitanui.
The incident was assessed as careless conduct with medium impact to the head.
West Coast’s challenge is likely to hinge on the definition of a dangerous tackle, and in particular the fact that Amon did not have both of his arms pinned.
“It’s a bit of a head scratcher for me, personally,” coach Adam Simpson told Channel Seven on Monday night.
“The vision I saw, he didn’t have his arms pinned.”
Geelong coach Chris Scott said he struggled to see what alternative Naitanui had, while Adelaide skipper Taylor Walker and Brisbane’s Mitch Robinson were among the AFL players who took to social media to criticise the suspension.
“Oh my god! Just wow,” Walker said in a Twitter post which he later deleted.
Former Port Adelaide player Kane Cornes took a different view, saying Naitanui should have taken greater care to protect the smaller Amon.
“You’ve got a guy who is 110 kilos, the most powerful athlete in the AFL … he must have a duty of care to roll Amon in the tackle,” Cornes said.
Christian defended himself on Tuesday, claiming the decision was a no-brainer.
“Tackling is the most challenging part of this role, because it’s obviously something you’re allowed to do,” Christian told SEN radio.
“But this one, for me, was the easiest that I’ve had to adjudicate on because the rules around tackling are pretty simple in a sense: (whether) a tackle is unreasonable in the circumstances.
“…The particular application here is where an opponent is driven into the ground with excessive force, particularly when the player tackled is in a vulnerable position, then that constitutes unreasonable in the circumstances.”