Five-goal Crows hero Ben Keays faces a somewhat uneasy wait for the Match Review Officer’s verdict on his tackle on Essendon midfielder Jye Caldwell on Friday night.
Keays will come under scrutiny from the MRO after his dump tackle on Caldwell in the final quarter of Friday night’s win, which ended up with the Bomber midfielder’s head crashing into the turf and leading him to be subbed out to undergo a concussion test.
“It’s going to be one that’s talked about, I’m sure. It’s probably best we leave it at that,” Crows coach Matthew Nicks said of Keays’ tackle.
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Bombers coach Brad Scott said Caldwell was “fine” post-game after he passed the test.
“There (were) 15 minutes left on the clock — the rules are there for a reason and a good reason — he had to have a head injury assessment, which takes time.,” Scott told reporters post-game.
“The fact that he passed that (assessment) and was fine is sort of cold comfort because we just couldn’t wait, unfortunately.
“Obviously we didn’t want to sub him off, but we felt like we had no choice just because of the stage of the game. We might have got him back for the last five minutes, perhaps, but we just made that call.
“With 15 minutes plus stoppages and all that sort of stuff, we could’ve got him back with five (minutes remaining) but we just, on balance, subbed him off to get the fresh player in.”
Asked about the tackle post-game, Keays told Channel 7: “I thought it was just a standard tackle.
“He got winded. I thought he hit his head but luckily he was just winded.
“Umpire paid a free kick, it is what it is I guess. We just continued to play hard, really.”
Dangerous tackles have been in the spotlight this week after Giant Toby Bedford and Lion Charlie Cameron both had their three-week bans sensationally overturned at the AFL Appeals Board on Thursday night, sparking industry-wide debate.
“From our point of view it was a tough week,” Nicks said.
“We look at these things and educate around it. We have a complete understanding of what we’re trying to do as a league and we support that as far a protecting and looking after player welfare.
“But it was a confusing week. We educated one way then we had to come back and do a complete flip on that.”
Fox Footy commentators said they were of the belief Keays could escape suspension as he kept Caldwell’s left arm free during the tackle, but added there was an element of excessive force.
“He (Caldwell) is in a vulnerable position, but he clearly only has one arm pinned there,” Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph told Fox Footy post-game.
“Is it excessive force? I would think the AFL has spent the whole week telling us that if you pin both arms you’re in trouble, but if you allow a player to brace for a fall, you’re much less likely to be suspended. So I would think on that, I think he’s fine.”
Triple premiership player Jonathan Brown said he believed “there was more force” with Keays’ tackle than Bedford’s one on Tim Taranto, but added Caldwell had an arm free.
“It’s confusing to us all,” Brown said.
Seven-time All-Australian Nathan Buckley added: “And he didn’t actually have the ball in the end. It doesn’t need to be a tackle, it just needs to be considered rough conduct and then it needs to be considered careless to reach the threshold to reach rough conduct. There’s no pinned arm, he actually did brace, there’s no tackle.”
Keays, still, was inspirational for the Crows, kicking a career-high five goals to go with 22 disposal (12 contested), five clearances and 12 score involvements in his side’s thrilling two-point win over the Bombers at Marvel Stadium.
“I’m really impressed with the way he’s improved himself,” Brown said.
“He came to Brisbane and I think he had limited ability, certainly with his kicking. He’s always been able to run, but now I think he’s a very good kick for goal, he’s a good ground level player and he’s got good ground ball craft.
“He’s become a great clubman there, he’ll be high up in the best and fairest and a very reliable player.”
Source Agencies
