790 points 7 weeks

[Wardy]

Brett Staker's mum will be pissed.

Didn't she want him jailed for a term of not less than 15 years?

Mrs Staker was confusing the issue with the antics of Ivan Milat. She thought that Ivan and Barry were one in the same - it happens!

[Wardy]

Well lets agree to disagree, as I said BBB did the wrong thing, but look further into it. Would he have done it if Staker hade been pinged for holding the man "which is shown on video". Provocation isn't a defence, but if a defender is constantly niggling you what do you do, offer him a bunch of roses to get him off your back.

People are human, in a role I am in sometimes I get pushed a bit too far and sometimes, and very rarely I lash out verbally. Sometimes I regret it, but at times it's a necessity to tell people that I won't tolerate the crap anymore.

I am not condoning what BBB did, it wasn't necessary but human psychology would see it as a defensive action that a person that was pushed to the brink, and given that there was no intervention (umpires) his frustration was brought to bare.

right on there Annie - it seems both sides of the argument were lost in the translation or rather media hype and that Staker was the innocent in this - when he wasnt.

[ScottH]

I love the fact that all the media paint Hall as a mass murderer, yet the HS had a lovely 2 page spread in Sundays paper - Mick Gatto's Diary, about his trip to Singapore. They just forgot to put the Halo over Mick in the picture.

[stellation]

7 weeks is fair. I personally thought 4 weeks should really be enough for the punch itself, but was expecting somewhere in the 6-8 weeks range.

A friend from work called me yesterday to suggest it should be about 10 and anything less than 8 would be the AFL protecting the Swans. I explained that I thought anything over 8 was just completely over the top and pointed out the penalties handed out to Holland and Johnson for their high bumps (which, despite being in play, I think were significantly worse than Barry's punch) and he then caved and agreed.

[CureTheSane]

Sorry, haven't read past post 5. Berate me if I've repeated anything.

Lazy.

[ScottH]

7 weeks is fair. I personally thought 4 weeks should really be enough for the punch itself, but was expecting somewhere in the 6-8 weeks range.

A friend from work called me yesterday to suggest it should be about 10 and anything less than 8 would be the AFL protecting the Swans. I explained that I thought anything over 8 was just completely over the top and pointed out the penalties handed out to Holland and Johnson for their high bumps (which, despite being in play, I think were significantly worse than Barry's punch) and he then caved and agreed.

Well he did get 10, until Forrester QC got out the pics, I mean argued that a discount was warranted given the early guilty plea.

[Zlatorog]

I think it's a fair outcome. Now is time to move on and focus on things that matter. Like Geelong on Saturday, for example.

[Wardy]

I think it's a fair outcome. Now is time to move one and focus on things that matter. Like Geelong on Saturday, for example.

bravo - I second that - its done - lets move on - Davo should be back and he will be hungry to prove himself - bring it on!!!

[stellation]

Well he did get 10, until Forrester QC got out the pics, I mean argued that a discount was warranted given the early guilty plea.

Ahhh, I haven't read the articles or through the whole thread. I think 10 is far too much.

Will the carry over points be 90 and mean that if he so much looks at another player he'll get a week?

[ScottH]

Ahhh, I haven't read the articles or through the whole thread. I think 10 is far too much.

Will the carry over points be 90 and mean that if he so much looks at another player he'll get a week?

Yep.

[hammo]

I am not condoning what BBB did, it wasn't necessary but human psychology would see it as a defensive action that a person that was pushed to the brink, and given that there was no intervention (umpires) his frustration was brought to bare.

There are other actions that can be taken without going to the extreme of punching someone.

[reigning premier]

Is Seven weeks fair?

Now that the dust has settled (A little bit), Post tribunal, Is 7 weeks a fair punishment?

I would argue that the "niggle" was brought on by Staker and BBBBH just gave one back. Obviously a little to enthusiastically but the whole premise that he was king hit unexpectedley (And hence such the moral outrage and heavy punishment) is a farce.

Yes, BBBBH shouldn't have punched him. But was it really unexpected?

As for the contact itself, just because he threw a better one than anyone else has, should he be more severley punished than others that have TRIED to do the same? After all, isn't guilt all about intent?

[TheGrimReaper]

And another topic on this issue.

Has anyone seen my valium tablets?

[bloodboy]

7 is fair...I thought it was going to be much longer which would not have been fair but the tribunal got it right I reckon. Even though there was niggle, still can't do it. I think the 7 weeks took in to account that niggle. If it was TOTALLY unprovoked (e.g. Bazz just threw the left hook for nothing) then I am sure the suspension would have been longer and the AFL would have paid for him to visit a mental institution to make sure he wasn't either "hearing voices" or "seeing things"!

[swansrock4eva]

I'd have said firstly that guilt ISN'T about intent - it's about your actions and their outcomes. The person who doesn't intend to run head-on into another vehicle and kill the driver is still guilty of a crime (assuming the judicial systems deems the person to be guilty) even though he didn't intend for it to happen. It's just the specifics of the crime that change, not the fact that one has been commited e.g. murder (premeditated) vs mansluaghter (unpremeditated) etc etc. I'm sure some of our legal boffins will have more to say on this!

I think the point in one of the other threads about Patrick Smith's current article comparing Hall to the Geelong/Saints incident is probably the key point. I perosnally think Bazza was incredibly lucky to only get 7 weeks because what he did was stupid, dangerous and pretty damn ugly. Having said that though, I also think that the AFL is still highly inconsistent in how they determine punishments etc which influences perceptions of fairness. When you account for that inconsistency, I still feel Barry's result was pretty fair in and of itself, but the fact that West didn't face any punishment was equally unfair. Until that type of inconsistency is addressed, the question of fair vs unfair will always be a loaded one imo, and probably too hard to really answer.