St Kilda striker Jack Higgins will miss the next three weeks after failing to have his suspension overturned or reduced for a dangerous sling tackle.
Higgins pleaded not guilty at the AFL Tribunal to a charge of rough conduct for his tackle on Port Adelaide defender Aliir Aliir, with St Kilda lawyer Adrian Anderson arguing the 25-year-old’s actions were not unreasonable given the circumstances. circumstances.
As a secondary argument, Anderson said there were “exceptional and compelling circumstances” that made it inappropriate to impose a three-match suspension, given that Aliir’s kicking was a major contributor to the incident.
Anderson said a two-game suspension would be more appropriate in those circumstances.
Aliir’s head slammed into the turf after being thrown to the ground by Higgins, and the subsequent concussion ruled the Port defender out of Thursday night’s clash with Adelaide.
The three-person tribunal panel, led by president Renee Enbom, deliberated for an hour and 40 minutes before striking down both of St Kilda’s lines of argument.
Although Enbom agreed that Aliir’s kicks contributed to his momentum to fall to the ground, he said the tackle was unreasonable.
“We consider this to be a clear case of harsh conduct,” Enbom said.
“Higgins used poor and dangerous technique to take Aliir down.
“He grabbed Aliir’s left arm and forcefully swung him to the ground.
“Higgins grabbed Aliir’s arm in such a way that Aliir had little or no ability to try to protect himself.”
The decision means Higgins will miss matches against North Melbourne, Hawthorn and Fremantle.
During Tuesday night’s hearing, Anderson asked sports biomechanics expert Helen Bayne to help explain how Aliir’s kicks were largely to blame for the outcome.
“It increases its angular momentum,” Bayne explained.
“Raising that right leg, aggressively swinging upward, unbalances your mass even more than it would have been and causes that increase in angle that causes that tumbling movement.
“It makes contact with your shoulder/head region instead of lower down.
“He is spinning faster due to the fact that he has moved his leg in a kicking action.
“It makes it harder to create other movements to maybe achieve a safer landing position because you’re focused on that lateral rotation.”
Anderson also noted that Higgins is just 177cm and 76kg compared to Aliir’s imposing 195cm and 97kg frame.
Higgins said it was Aliir’s momentum that largely resulted in the pair hitting the turf.
“I don’t think I could take down a big man like that,” Higgins said during his testimony.
“I didn’t feel like I had much control over his body weight on me.
“A Port Adelaide player came up to me and said it was a good tackle and he was stiff.”
AFL lawyer Nick Pane said Aliir was in a vulnerable position with little opportunity to protect himself.
“What made this tackle unreasonable was that he (Higgins) restricted the use of Aliir’s left arm and twisted him hard toward the ground,” Pane said.
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AAP
