AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan says Patrick Cripps should NOT have won Brownlow Medal after violent hit
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AFL boss Gillon McLachlan says Patrick Cripps should NOT have won Brownlow medal over ‘nonsense’ decision to release Carlton star over violent hit
- McLachlan is ‘agitated’ Cripps won Brownlow despite ugly hit in round 21
- The Carlton star was suspended for the hit but won his appeal over technicalities
- Footy identities suggested Cripps’ lawyer would get his own medal over it
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Patrick Cripps picked up the time-honored Brownlow medal on Sunday night, but AFL boss Gillon McLachlan believes the Carlton star should not have won.
The Charles Brownlow medal means not only who is the best player, but also for the fairest – and Cripps was suspended for two games late in the season after a high, heavy bump left Brisbane star Callum Ah Chee concussed.
With Carlton’s season on the line, the club rolled the dice and challenged the ruling – and managed to overturn the ban after a four-and-a-half-hour marathon hearing of the Appeals Committee.
Patrick Cripps Celebrates After Being Anointed As 2022 Brownlow Medal Winner
The decision sparked outrage among many at the time, including McLachlan.
“People are aware that I was very agitated by that decision of the Appeals Board,” he said in an article published this week in the AFL Record.
“I didn’t find it logical in any way and it’s frustrating to have a legal view of due process or procedural justice — a complete nonsense — that really detracts from a clear mandate to protect the head.”
In the incident in Round 21, in which the Lions defeated Carlton by 33 points, Cripps jumped off his feet to bump into a vulnerable Ah Chee in a contest for the ball and grabbed him in the head, causing him a concussion. got.
AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan, pictured reading the votes at Sunday night’s Brownlow Medal, believes Patrick Cripps should never have won the Brownlow after being bummed about a head-high hit
His attorney, Chris Townshend QC, was able to get Cripps off a technical matter related to “procedural justice” – and McLachlan said the successful appeal undoes much of the hard work the AFL had put in to become the head of protect a player.
“We have confused our supporters and thrown ourselves back and that really frustrates me,” McLachlan said of the decision.
Nearly everyone in the footy world—apart from Carlton—shut down the idea; from former players to fans and even current players.
Patrick Cripps (blue jersey) jumps up to bump Callum Ah Chee (auburn jersey), pick up the Lions star high and leave him with a concussion
North Melbourne legend turned commentator David King said he was “stunned” when Cripps was released.
“It contradicts everything we’ve talked about over the past three to four years about protecting the head. “I was amazed.” King said on SEN at the time.
“If you can have something so important, which is head protection, and a clear statement from the MRO and supported by the Tribunal, and then the player gets out because of a legal technical problem and nobody really understands what the hell is going on.” has happened. , I find that challenging.’
Patrick Cripps shares his Brownlow medal with partner Monique Fontana
Even Richmond star Jack Riewoldt condemned the decision to let Cripps go, saying it could “open a can of worms” for other players in the future.
As it turned out, that four-and-a-half-hour hearing earned Cripps the Brownlow Medal.
Not only would a suspension have made him unfit to win; the Carlton midfielder took three votes in the final game of the season, beating favorite Lachie Neale by just one vote.
That was a point many had not missed, with some high-profile footy identities suggesting Cripps’ attorney was worthy of a Brownlow medal of his own.
A hazy Patrick Cripps poses with his Brownlow Medal after a big night of partying at a Monday morning press conference
But all history books — and Wikipedia articles — will say that the winner of the 2022 Brownlow Medal was Patrick Cripps by 29 votes.
Neale, at 28, will forever be the runner-up after one of the closest counts in history; with Gold Coast star Touk Miller third with 27 votes, and Dockers star Andrew Brayshaw and Melbourne gun Clayton Oliver combined fourth with 25 votes each.
Cripps declined to bite over McLachlan’s comments when asked at a news conference Monday morning after Brownlow, simply saying he was having the night of his life.
“It’s been a long night, but it’s all worth it. It was a lot of fun… You can tell by my eyes that I missed the count last night,’ laughed an exhausted, but ecstatic, Cripps.