AFL football boss Laura Kane says the league has no desire to remove the ‘fairest’ component in the Rising Star award after suspensions to clear frontrunners Harley Reid and Sam Darcy.
The Rising Star race has been blown wide open after Reid and Darcy were both banned last weekend, making the duo ineligible for the best first-year player award — the same rules which apply for the Brownlow Medal.
It’s created ample debate as to whether that rule should be changed to allow suspended first-year players to still be available to win the Rising Star amid an increase in bans for less malicious acts due to more protection of player welfare and head knocks.
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But speaking on Fox Footy’s AFL 360 on Tuesday night, Kane said the ‘fairest’ element in the Rising Star, like with the Brownlow Medal, is still important to the AFL.
“We feel it is (necessary) and I’ve been pretty clear this week that we don’t have an appetite to change the criteria for Rising Star. But I appreciate it’s caused great debate over the past couple of days,” she said.
“They’re both terrific players and they’re both going to have wonderful careers in our game.
“We are very clear they are now ineligible to win the Rising Star, which very clearly suggests the fairness component remains important to us.”
There’s also been discussion around potentially tweaking what represents ineligibility within a suspension such as a careless action being accepted.
But it’s also not something the AFL was considering despite Kane acknowledging “we’re an ever evolving dynamic industry and should evolve with community standards and player health and safety.”
AFL 360 co-host Gerard Whateley pointed out that the “best and fairest” aspect of the Brownlow appears to be more celebrated than the Rising Star, questioning if there needs to be a greater emphasis on it with the latter.
However Lane noted this isn’t the first time star first-year players have been rubbed out.
“The Rising Star has been around for just over 30 years … Toby Greene and Dustin Martin both missed Rising Stars in their respective years with suspension. So it’s happened before, it’s not something that’s new,” she said.
“I take the point around what’s referenced but it’s something we are really comfortable with for both of those awards.”
Source Agencies
