North Melbourne AFL coach Brad Scott says if Fremantle’s Ryan Crowley tried his pinching tactics on Brent Harvey in the 1980s, justice would have been swiftly dealt.
Crowley would have been decked and that would have been the end of the matter.
Five-time club champion Harvey complained to the umpires during last weekend’s round-13 match in Perth and gave Crowley a spray moments after the siren.
Crowley was handed a $1200 fine at the tribunal on Tuesday, after Fremantle mounted what Scott labelled as a pretty ordinary defence.
“If that was 30 years ago and he was subjected to what he was subjected to on the weekend, he would have just dropped Ryan Crowley,” Scott told reporters on Thursday.
“The umpires had a chance at the start of the game when ‘Boomer’ (Harvey) was put down off the ball to pay a free kick and set the tone for the game and they didn’t take it.
“‘Boomer’ didn’t want to go on with it (at the tribunal).
“‘Boomer’ would prefer that 30 years ago he could just react the way that he reacted in the final last year (against West Coast in Perth).
“But we’re not prepared to have him sitting on the sidelines for six weeks.
“The player has either got to be protected by the umpire or he has got to have the right to protect himself,” Scott added.
“He (Harvey) gave away a 50-metre penalty which cost us a goal directly so there was one occasion where he wasn’t able to keep control.”
Scott took a swipe at Fremantle’s tribunal tactics.
“When he was pushed and pushed and pushed, ‘Boomer’ had no option but to say ‘look, if you’re asking me what happened, this is what happened’,” Scott said.
“That sunk Ryan Crowley’s case.”
Another sore point regarding North’s dealings with umpires and tribunals in 2013 has been midfielder Jack Ziebell, who returns from a three-match suspension for Sunday’s clash with bottom side Greater Western Sydney at Etihad Stadium.
“We don’t want him suspended and so we’ll work on a couple of things to make sure he gives himself a better chance to hit the ball instead of the player. And then we’ll address those things with the AFL at the end of the year,” Scott said of Ziebell, who was banned following his bump on Adelaide’s Jarryd Lyons in round nine.
