[ad_1]
Jesse Hogan was cited over this incident.Credit: afl.com.au
Hogan’s challenge was at risk of being sunk under changes made this year regarding accidental head-high contact from fends being deemed as intentional, but he needed to have committed a reportable offence for this to apply.
The case dramatically swung in Hogan’s favour after a direction from tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson to his co-panellists Darren Gaspar and Scott Stevens that a strike needed to be of more than negligible force to be deemed a reportable offence, and the potential to cause injury cannot result in negligible impact being upgraded.
The AFL’s appeals board sensationally cleared Carlton skipper Cripps of rough conduct in 2022 after the Blues mounted a legalistic argument that the directions provided to the tribunal panel were not procedurally fair.
It paved the way for Cripps to poll the maximum three votes in the final round to clinch the league’s highest individual honour.
Hogan told the tribunal he had been perplexed when told by Young moments after their clash he would be suspended for making head-high contact.
The Giants, represented by Anais d’Arville, said Hogan had brushed Young’s face with a “slight bit of palm”, a view the tribunal shared.
The AFL, through Andrew Woods, said Young should not have been expecting contact in the goal square from Hogan for a boundary throw-in about 30 metres from goal.
Loading
He said Young’s “clear head turn” was proof contact had been made with sufficient force for the ban to stand.
In ruling in Hogan’s favour, the tribunal praised the Giant for his “impressively candid evidence”.
“But Hogan gave evidence his palm only brushed Young’s face and the video evidence is consistent with that,” Gleeson found.
“Young’s head moves with the contact but not to any marked degree. Young does not rub his face or even touch it after the contact. We are not clearly satisfied there was anything more than negligible impact here.”
A star junior, Hogan has been a revelation for the Giants since arriving at the club for the 2021 season with his career at the crossroads after troubled stints with Melbourne and Fremantle.
Hogan booted 49 goals last year as the Giants shocked many with a barnstorming run to climb from 16th in 2022 to fall agonisingly close to a grand final appearance.
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.
[ad_2]
Source link
