AFL Tribunal Round 5: Anthony Caminiti successfully has charge downgraded

Essendon will enter its biggest Anzac Day match in years without its skipper Zach Merrett after his one-match ban was upheld for a tackle on Thomas Sparrow during a busy night in the AFL tribunal.

Meanwhile, St Kilda’s Anthony Caminiti has been handed a three-game ban for scoring against Magpie Nathan Murphy, who was subsequently ruled out of his side’s next game with concussion.

Tuesday’s three hearings, which also see Taylor Adams challenging a one-game ban, marked the fifth straight week the tribunal had heard 11 cases in its first five rounds.

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Zach Merrett’s suspension was upheld

The Bombers questioned the rough conduct charge when the AFL stated that Merrett had put Sparrow in a vulnerable position with his attempted attack.

“I didn’t drag him straight to the ground,” Merrett said while defending his actions.

“I’ll do anything to attract him. It feels like his body connects to mine as I hit the ground as well.”

But the ban was upheld despite AFL tribunal chairman Jeff Gleeson calling Merrett’s statement “honest and frank.”

“The difficulty for Merrett is that by holding on to Sparrow’s sweater – and, in our view, pulling him to the ground – combined with the force Merrett was applying around Sparrow’s body with his left arm, there was a real risk that Sparrow’s head collided violently with the ground,” Gleeson said after almost half an hour’s deliberation.

“A sane player in Merrett’s position would have realized that Sparrow was vulnerable because his right arm was pinched … and his head was being driven to the ground with force and that there was a real risk that Sparrow would not land fully on Merrett.

“For these reasons, we feel this was a dangerous attack.”

The charges against Anthony Caminiti were downgraded by the tribunal

St Kilda argued that Caminiti’s swipe at the Collingwood defender was careless rather than intentional, with the AFL pushing for a five-game suspension if deemed intentional by the panel.

“I was very remorseful and wanted to say how sorry I am about the action,” said the rookie.

“I felt pretty bad about the result. I just wanted to make sure he was okay and just wanted to apologize.

“It was never my intention to swing, my whole intention was to push.”

The incident was initially classified by the Match Review Officer as intentional conduct, serious impact and high contact.

“I don’t see it as a premeditated act,” Nathan Buckley said on Fox Footy’s On the couch over the weekend.

“I think Nathan is dropping his knees a bit and I’m assuming Caminiti isn’t expecting to hit him in the head, so I think it’s negligent.”

And that was the conclusion the panel reached after more than an hour of deliberation, when it returned to give Caminiti a reduced three-game suspension for negligent conduct.

“While we are disappointed that Anthony will now be unavailable for three weeks, we are pleased that the contact intent has been reviewed and adjusted accordingly,” said acting general manager of football David Misson.

“As a club we attach great importance to protecting not only the minds of our players but also our opponents, but as we saw tonight, incidents should be decided on a case-by-case basis.

“Anthony is a young player who has only started five games into his AFL career and we are focused on supporting him through that process.

“We are confident that this will be a great lesson for him that we know he will embrace.”

Caminiti will now be unavailable until St Kilda’s Round 9 game against Adelaide.

Meanwhile, Adam’s hearing is due to be heard as he tries to play in the duel with Essendon after initially receiving a one-match ban for a sling tackle on Seb Ross.

There’s more to come.