Toby Greene could face AFL appeal against umpire bump suspension as Gillon McLachlan criticises Tribunal verdict

Kieran Francis

Toby Greene could face AFL appeal against umpire bump suspension as Gillon McLachlan criticises Tribunal verdict image

The AFL are considering an appeal of Toby Greene's three-week umpire contact suspension, with chief executive Gillon McLachlan revealing he found verdict 'hard to reconcile'.

Greene was handed the ban by the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday afternoon, after the AFL legal counsel had sought a penalty of six matches for the incident, which saw the GWS star make contact with umpire Matt Stevic in last weekend's Elimination Final against the Swans.

Speaking after announcing the location of the 2021 Grand Final, McLachlan said he found the length of Greene's suspension 'perplexing' and revealed the AFL would investigate rights of appeal.

"I welcome the Tribunal verdict that it was intentional conduct and handing down a sanction. [But] if I’m honest, I find it hard personally to reconcile how it can be intentional conduct that was aggressive, demonstrative and disrespectful - it was found to be all of those things - and then only be three weeks," McLachlan said.

"As the CEO of the League, I'm saying to community leagues and others that I find the decision perplexing.

"I’ve spoken to the lawyers about our appeal rights clearly. They’re looking at that at the moment." 

McLachlan explained that a decision on whether to appeal will be made on Tuesday or Wednesday.

"We won’t muck around. You don’t appeal lightly, so we’ll get some advice, contextualise it all, and make a decision as quick as we can."

The AFL has only ever appealed three incidents in the past.

Richmond's Bachar Houli saw a two-match striking ban upgraded to four games after an appeal, while Carlton brothers Ed and Charlie Curnow saw umpire contact fines appealed, with the older sibling getting a one-match suspension and the younger being cleared.

Greene's incident with Stevic saw the Giants star engage animatedly in conversation with the umpire just after the three-quarter time siren,

As Greene approached Stevic, he 27-year-old appeared to make contact with the umpire's shoulder with his own shoulder.

Initial footage of the incident was inconclusive about the level of contact Greene made on Stevic, but a subsequent angle released on Sunday showed there was contact between the two.

Stevic didn't choose to report Greene for the incident at the time, with the AFL's Match Review Panel citing Greene 24 hours later.

The Match Review Panel decided to refer the incident to directly to the Tribunal, instead of ruling on it themselves, with AFL guidelines stating: "Contact with an umpire that is aggressive, forceful, demonstrative, or disrespectful will be deemed intentional and the player will be directly returned to the tribunal."

Kieran Francis

Kieran Francis Photo

Kieran Francis is a senior editor at The Sporting News based in Melbourne, Australia. He started at Sportal.com.au before being a part of the transition to Sporting News in 2015. Just prior to the 2018 World Cup, he was appointed chief editor of Goal.com in Australia. He has now returned to The Sporting News where his passions lay in football, AFL, poker and cricket - when he is not on holiday.