AFL MRO News: Port Adelaide star handed Brownlow Medal boost following Tribunal decision
Port Adelaide star Zak Butters faced the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday (June 18). The verdict, following an over-turn of his one-match ban is that he remains eligible for the Brownlow Medal this season.
Butters was in trouble after hitting GWS Giants midfielder Tom Green in the face in an off-the-ball incident on Sunday.
The Port midfielder made an attempt at hitting Green on the shoulder, but it was deflected onto the Giant’s face. It was graded as high contact, intentional conduct, and low impact.
Butters pleaded not guilty to the charge, and Port Adelaide argued that the impact was too low to justify a grading of low impact.
A 17-minute deliberation between Tribunal panel members Jason Johnson, Jeff Gleeson, and Paul Williams ended in Butters being cleared because the impact was “negligible”. Gleeson said (via AFL.com):
"The vision of this impact is not perfectly clear and does not clearly show that anything more than Mr Butters' fingers made contact with Mr Green's face. Mr Green's head moves at about the moment of impact, but not significantly. He does not react in the manner one expects if he had suffered a forceful blow to the face of more than negligible impact."
Butters in his defense explained that he only intended to shove Green in the chest. He said:
"It followed through and my fingers briefly brushed his face. I would disagree that it was a strike."
Butters added that the apparent motion of Green's head was less about the force than it was a reflexive motion. He said:
"I believe in that moment it was more him flinching ... than the actual force itself”.
AFL counsel Sam Bird did not agree with him. He said:
"It's delivered with some momentum, and it's also an inherently dangerous act. This is not a glancing with a few fingers to the side of the face. This is a strike to the side of the face."
Lawyer Ben Krupka, in Butters' defense, referenced an incident involving GWS Giants forward Jesse Hogan from earlier this season.
Hogan was initially handed a one-match ban for a strike against Lewis Young of Carlton, but it was overturned after the Giants argued it to be of negligible impact. Krupka said:
"In our case, the impact is clearly less than what is involved in (the Hogan) case.”
Butters is a prospective nominee for this year’s Brownlow after averaging 27.2 disposals and five clearances per game so far this season, and kicking seven goals.
Following the overturn of his ban, he is now free to play in Port Adelaide's clash with the Brisbane Lions at Adelaide Oval this Saturday.
Port Adelaide to contest yet another Tribunal decision as spearhead Charlie Dixon gets in a mess
After the resolution of midfielder Zak Butters’ disciplinary issue, Port Adelaide Power were dealt yet another chance to contest a disciplinary decision. Port Adelaide would contest a three-match suspension given to spearhead Charlie Dixon at the SANFL Tribunal on Wednesday night.
Dixon was handed the suspension for his bump on West Adelaide's Jordan White which left the latter concussed. The conduct charge was assessed as high contact, careless conduct, and severe impact.