Cameron Rayner’s appeal to the AFL Tribunal has failed, ruling him out of Brisbane’s elimination final against Richmond.
Rayner was fighting a careless conduct charge for his tackle on Ben Brown during the Lions’ loss to Melbourne last Friday, while defender Noah Answerth accepted his one-match ban for striking Alex Neal-Bullen.
Brown left the field after the inning with blood pouring from his nose, but passed a concussion test and returned to the field.
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Brisbane argued that Rayner’s conduct was not negligent and was reasonable in the circumstances.
Lions represented by Adrian Anderson said if it is considered careless, the impact should be “low” not “medium”.
Most of the argument between the two sides came down to how much of the momentum in that inning was due to Rayner and how much to Brown.
The AFL represented by Andrew Woods said Rayner was responsible for the 360-degree spin and that pinning Brown’s arms for the duration of the tackle was unreasonable in the circumstances given Brown’s vulnerability.
Reference was made to the Gabba wicket and the fact that it is a harder patch of grass than the rest of the ground, with reference to a Clegg Hammer reading.
Cam Rayner testified and was questioned for about 40 minutes. He said that Brown’s push resulted in the twisting motion that occurred and that if he released his arms, Brown would escape.
He also revealed that he and Brown spoke on the floor after the match and that Brown admitted it was a high-speed contest.
Rayner flatly rejected the idea that he made a pitching move.
He pointed out the size discrepancy between himself and Brown and said he just had to jump and hang on. It was all momentum according to Rayner, he said he didn’t throw him to the ground, he tried to put Brown’s right shoulder on the ground.
After just over 40 minutes of deliberation, the Tribunal found that Rayner contributed significantly to the momentum of the confrontation and that he could have released Brown’s arms midway rather than continue.
Although the playing surface influenced the extent of impact, it did not diminish this impact.
Summary of the AFL Tribunal hearing on our blog below!
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