Shaun Burgoyne out for 3 weeks

[SimonH]

Interestingly the betting markets have not reacted at all to this news, having Sydney around $2.40 and Port around $1.60 as they did before Burgoyne's suspension.

Seems like the punters certainly don't regard Port as our be-yaitches; not at Footy Park, anyway. I think those odds are a trifle pessimistic for Sydney; I'd call the match a 50/50. Certainly no better for the Pahhhhr than that, without Burgoyne.

[ScottH]

Underdogs is good!

[T-bag]

I thought the contact was accidental and the footage seems to suggest it was his back that made contact, therefore Burgoyne tried to avoid it. I wouldn't be surprised if he got off.

I can't believe he went for that. Ridiculous to say the least.

[Bart]

Port are NOT appealling apparantly.

[Industrial Fan]

I hear they're not contesting the decision either....

[Plugger46]

I can't believe he went, let alone copped 3 weeks. One would imagine that there'd be a few unhappy Power supporters around at the moment.

[NMWBloods]

Bizarre decision. So every time a player gets hit in the head with a legitimate hip and shoulder there should be a suspension too?

[Xie Shan]

Port are NOT appealling apparantly.

Ah, so just like last year's grand final then.

[annew]

I hear they're not contesting the decision either....

They are apparently contesting it now. Will be heard on Thursday night.

[Industrial Fan]

That was a joke. Should have quoted the post Port are not appealing. My error.

[liz]

Bizarre decision. So every time a player gets hit in the head with a legitimate hip and shoulder there should be a suspension too?

I don't have a problem with that scenario. The AFL said at the start of last season that if you're going to bump a player, make sure you don't make head high contact. If he ducks at the last moment, tough luck, the onus is on the player not to bump unless he knows he can avoid head high contact.

That's all well and good but I don't think it applies here. It doesn't look to me like Burgoyne applied a deliberate hip and shoulder that happened to catch Mitchell high. The whole contact just looked accidental.

[ScottH]

They are apparently contesting it now. Will be heard on Thursday night.

I just heard on the radio that they aren't going to appeal.

[NMWBloods]

I don't have a problem with that scenario. The AFL said at the start of last season that if you're going to bump a player, make sure you don't make head high contact. If he ducks at the last moment, tough luck, the onus is on the player not to bump unless he knows he can avoid head high contact.

That's all well and good but I don't think it applies here. It doesn't look to me like Burgoyne applied a deliberate hip and shoulder that happened to catch Mitchell high. The whole contact just looked accidental.

But there are hip and shoulder contact that hit high nearly every week - just look at Scott's avatar.

[Claret]

I just heard on the radio that they aren't going to appeal.

Confirmed

Burgoyne to cop ban on chin

[liz]

But there are hip and shoulder contact that hit high nearly every week - just look at Scott's avatar.

And I was a little surprised that one didn't come under the scrutiny of the MRP. Though maybe they thought it was a genuine marking contest, rather than a hip and shoulder per se. Or they may have decided that predominatly contact was to the chest. But it looks line-ball at best.

The AFL was unequivocal about its statement re head high contact in bumps, even if the MRP is a little inconsistent in how they apply it. Look at the incident Kirk was reprimanded for last year. That wasn't even a hip and shoulder. He was clearly competing for the ball, arrived a split second later than Cornes, did everything he could to ensure the bulk of his contact was to Cornes' shoulder (since it was impossible for him to avoid making contact), and yet still got cited. The fact that the base points were only just over the 100 mark indicates that the MRP recognised he did was he could do to minimise the impact but it was completely accidental contact in my eyes (and I suspect the club would have had a good case had they chosen to contest it).