The Blues raised the case involving West Coast’s Willie Rioli when he was cleared after the Eagles successfully argued he was making a legitimate attempt to mark the ball when he crashed into the Suns’ Matt Rowell in round two.
Carlton’s Patrick Cripps appeared before the court after colliding with the Lions’ Callum Ah CheeCredit:The Age
His counsel Peter O’Farrell said there was a range of reasonable responses to the situation both players found themselves in when a spoil from the Lions’ Daniel Rich bounced above eye level and it was critical in determining the extent of Cripps’ liability to accept that neither player had possession of the ball when they both entered the contest.
Although not disputing that the Blues’ midfielder had his eyes on the ball, AFL counsel Nicholas Pane QC argued that Cripps had other options and could have entered the contest with arms outstretched or tapped the ball on.
Pane said it was not reasonable for Cripps to contest the ball in the way he did given he would have been aware he was likely to collide with Ah Chee.
He said the case rested on whether contact was “part and parcel of contesting the ball” and in his view it was not. Pane said contact with Ah Chee was late and Cripps should have recognized that his opponent was vulnerable and therefore entered the contest differently.
Footage showed that Cripps entered the contest before Ah Chee had taken possession of the ball with both players leaping simultaneously to win the ball.
O’Farrell said the collision occurred with both players acting reasonably and therefore there was no need to argue whether it was careless. O’Farrell said Cripps had taken a straight line to the ball as Ah-Chee drifted back across him to also contest the possession.
He said it was not a bump therefore Cripps could not be found guilty of rough conduct.
“It was a collision in an aerial contest and the charge cannot be sustained,” O’Farrell said.
“There was no bump. Cripps was contesting the ball at all times.”
In an earlier appeal West Coast midfielder Tim Kelly had his charge of rough conduct for a dangerous tackle on Adelaide’s Jarrod Berry upheld meaning he will miss Sunday’s derby against Fremantle.