Judiciary - You're Verdict

[Coastal Boy]

There would of not been any case to answer if the umpires actually done their job and paid the cheap shot on Marcus Linsen the free kick. But since Auburn has come and gone there seems to be very limited vision from those in orange. Basically they are oblivious to anything that happens unless it is in unison with crowd noise.

None of the players on the field saw the incident either so how do you describe those 34 individuals?

The commentator clearly misses it as well so go him too while youre there.

I've been told most spectators missed it too. Without the camera the whole event would have been a mystery.

But let's blame the umpires. Sounds fair.

[Coastal Boy]

There would of not been any case to answer if the umpires actually done their job and paid the cheap shot on Marcus Linsen the free kick. But since Auburn has come and gone there seems to be very limited vision from those in orange. Basically they are oblivious to anything that happens unless it is in unison with crowd noise.

None of the

[The Runt]

There would of not been any case to answer if the umpires actually done their job and paid the cheap shot on Marcus Linsen the free kick. But since Auburn has come and gone there seems to be very limited vision from those in orange. Basically they are oblivious to anything that happens unless it is in unison with crowd noise.

[unconfuseme]

He should have tried the "Nat Fyfe" defence ...

" ... Fyfe?s legal team argued that his off-the-ball hit on Lewis was reckless rather than intentional and the ban should be reduced to one match."

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[saviour01]

A push in the back and then follow the play. AFL must be full of girls because you see that happen a dozen times every game.

[wise one]

Think the 7 weeks was reasonable given the over the top reaction to this incident, tribunal would have been under a great deal of pressure to be seen to be making a stance on these issues, however i do not feel it was in line with several recent incidents of a similar nature at AFL level.

Does anyone know if the UNSW player has to face the tribunal?

And would it have been necessary for the Wests player to hit the UNSW player from behind, if he did not throw the 1st cheap shot and run up the ground like a girl.

[Coastal Boy]

To my surprise I think the Sydney AFL have handled this event extremely well. They posted a comment online pre and post tribunal which gives the sense they are respectful to the footy community and gives confidence that have the situation in hand.

[mountainsofpain]

Of course I'm dying to know what you're on about and how this justifies King hitting a bloke from behind...

I think the point was that you've got to be careful taking the high moral ground ("germ of a human being" - wtf?) when there are plenty of skeletons in your own club's closet as well.

For example - I was at a game a number of years ago where two opposition players were sent to hospital courtesy of UTS elbows and another player was king hit by a UTS player near the boundary line as well (which I was about 5 metres away from).

And this behaviour was in a game which UTS was winning in a canter.

[Seagull]

Fair call, Tim Freedman, that's pretty reasonable.

I was at the game and I did see the incident, from the grandstand...about five yards from the cameraman/commentator, two yards from an angry ex-President...and the initial contact is still not clear to me. I reject the rose-coloured glasses thing though. As the former victim of an on-field king-hit, former coach and now a parent, I would want the tribunal to protect my son and others' sons from this sort of act and I would be equally as angered if it was one of our players.

As a former crime and sports journo in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, I have also seen plenty of people killed and maimed by blows as simple as this one on the streets. I also worked with David Hookes, who died from a one-punch incident. In my humble opinion, I expected more.

I understand the brain snap thing and I take your word on the "reserved" demeanour but for those hung up on the publicity, if it was Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth or Hobart...you would have seen it on the 6pm news, not limited to a radio website and FB.

It was trending number #2 story on the Herald Sun website. It's legitimate news. Check the reaction on the Big Footy site. People relate to it. Trying to hide such an incident after it has been broadcast on the internet is ridiculous. External publicity is not supposed to influence the Tribunal...they're lawyers. I covered the VFL/AFL tribunal for several years for 3AW...plenty of publicity down there.

Suggesting it shouldn't be reported is wishful thinking. As a former editor, I would have run it in a football state, no matter where it occurred. If such coverage serves to highlight the need for greater protections in our game or if it merely promotes debate about it, it serves a purpose.

[Chicken Legs]

I think there are some important issues here that we need to learn from.

The most important issue here is the officiating of our Sydney AFL. Was there more to it, could it have been stopped, how can we make sure it doesn't get to this point again?

How we can do this is by better officiating. Most if not all punches such as this are not simple brain fades but built up frustration during a game. I will put my last $$$ on the fact that Marcus wouldn't do this at the 2 minute mark of the first quarter.

The past few retaliation punches I have seen could have been stopped by officiating the game properly.

Now I am not saying it's the umpires fault don't get me wrong here.

I know Marcus and my friend you should be having a minimum of 8-12 weeks on the sideline to have a good hard think about it. That said I was king hit from behind last year by a UTS player, knocked out cold, still have teeth and jaw issues and he got a total of ZERO weeks.

So at least it's consistent.

[UTSBatman]

Of course I'm dying to know what you're on about and how this justifies King hitting a bloke from behind...

[tara]

Absolute germ of a human being. Lucky to get 7. Dead set, anyone defending this disgusting act needs to take a good look at themselves

Wow good to see the condemnation from a club who can send 17 players to a div 2 game yet field full teams in lower divs when the seasons over. Oh and start fights cause their losing a game they were gettin belted in. Yeah really want your moral opinion here

[UTSBatman]

Absolute germ of a human being. Lucky to get 7. Dead set, anyone defending this disgusting act needs to take a good look at themselves

[tara]

Guilty. 7 weeks.

At least their consistent and havnt allowed media hype to sway them

[Norris Lurker]

Guilty. 7 weeks.