When Carlton’s Ed Curnow was suspended after round nine for intentionally touching an umpire, it appeared trial by Twitter had prevailed.That decision capped off eight months of madness that has seen players suspended either by their club or the AFL, or a mixture of both, for a range of reasons that would be as unfamiliar to many former players.
That’s not to say suspensions weren’t justified in certain instances and the appalling behaviour of some players in off-field incidents didn’t require a response, it’s just … really, do we know what we’re trying to achieve here?
Consistency is football’s white whale.Willie Rioli, the Curnow brothers, Hawkins, Dustin Martin, Steve Motlop, Ben Cunnington, Matt Crouch, Steven May, David Swallow and Jack Steven were all charged with touching umpires but a variety of penalties were applied.And with the code of silence underpinning a variety of AFL policies, it’s very difficult for supporters to know whether suspensions are only handed out to players whose alleged transgression is publicly exposed.
However it appears that since Geelong successfully turned around Steve Johnson’s career in 2007 when they ostracised him from the club for six weeks after a drunken night, such punishments have become de rigueur for clubs wanting to teach their players a lesson.
The AFL, lawyers, administrators do their best to come up with an acceptable outcome but the reality is the industry can never win when determining penalties for such a variety of issues because the social forces that prevail on them are often hot and unrelenting.