Opinion
A knee-jerk reaction is no answer to a backhander
Greg Baum
Sports columnistA Brownlow Medal fancy is disqualified from winning the award because of a relatively innocent act that had the unfortunate consequence of bloodying his opponent’s nose, and immediately the cry goes up to repeal the ineligibility of suspended players for the gong.
That is, for a loose backhander, a knee-jerk reaction. To change the rules because of sanction to Heeney would be too hasty and, like his blow to Jimmy Webster, at very least ill-timed.
Isaac Heeney has been suspended for this incident with Jimmy Webster.Credit: Channel Seven
For a start, the call for reform only ever arises when a star is in the gun, which means it is really more about stars than it is about scales of justice.
Much as it is sad for a star to be ruled out because of an incident like this, it would be sadder if stars were allowed to play by different rules to their workaday teammates. If, say, Lewis Melican or Matt Roberts were to be rubbed out for a similar offence, do you think there would be the same outcry?
Certainly, it’s true that the threshold for what constitutes an offence that leads to a suspension is lower than when the Brownlow rules were formulated.
Not so many years ago, even a shirtfront that knocked out an opponent did not necessarily incur a suspension. Not so long ago, Adelaide’s Izak Rankine would not automatically have been suspended for the bump that on Monday was deemed to be worth four matches.
By and large, a suspended player then had unarguably breached contemporary understanding of the “fairest” component of best-and-fairest and could not complain about his disqualification. He’d earned his right whack.
Heeney in full flight against the Saints.Credit: AFL Photos
The tripwire is higher now, but that’s the zeitgeist. North Melbourne’s Corey McKernan in 1996 and Footscray’s Chris Grant in 1997 were thought unlucky in their time to lose Brownlow Medals because of then-contentious suspensions. McKernan would probably be suspended under today’s rules and Grant certainly would. Heeney’s suspension is not a surprise. Like the rest of us, footballers have to live in their times.
Corey McKernan in 1996. Credit: Sebastian Costanzo
Even if there was to be a review of the rules and conditions, where would the line be re-drawn? As it is, that line is loosely described, which means that Port Adelaide’s Zak Butters, who has been fined three times this year, remains eligible for the medal, but Heeney, for his single transgression, now is not.
The distinction between a fine and a suspension is easily understood, but distinction between what incurs one or the other is not. As in the Heeney case, as often as not it comes down to one man’s judgment about the difference between “intentional” and “careless”. It’s semantic, but either way it applies to the administration of football justice, not a miscarriage of it.
It would be strange indeed if the Brownlow Medal were to be awarded henceforth to the best and mostly fairest.
Above and beyond, even if there was a mood for change to Brownlow criteria, how would the message be formulated, let alone sold?
For years now, the AFL has moved to tighten the rules and conditions to minimise the risk of injury – particularly to the head – and maximise the responsibility of players towards one another. This now applies even incidental contact such as Heeney’s to Webster. There is no doubt that Heeney did not mean to hurt Webster as he did, but there is also no doubt that he did.
If public sentiment has not always been with these reform, it has trailed not far behind. Most agree that the game is better for it.
So who now will proselytise for a loosening of the rules now? Periodically, calls arise for the “fairest” provision to be dispensed with in Brownlow eligibility. They have never succeeded. It is less-likely than ever that the fairest qualification would be abandoned now.
Heeney’s consolation – assuming recourse to the tribunal fails – is that the Brownlow Medal is not the be-all and end-all. Mediocre players rarely win it, but nor do all the greats. The Swans are top of the ladder and Heeney is having a brilliant season, and still there for him to win is a medal that players universally say far outweighs the Brownlow.
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.