Peter Wright contact with Harry Cunningham: Pleads Guilty and Receives 4 Week Suspension

[JT_the_Man]

Can't see how anybody can argue he was protecting himself. Consider this scenario:

You're going for a run on the footpath. A kid runs out from behind a fence chasing a ball. You have a split second to react. Do you:

1) Tuck your shoulder in to protect yourself.
2) Put your hands out and try to cushion the impact.

Nobody is going to mow the kid over using their shoulder.

Cunningham isn’t a kid, he’s an AFL player.

 

[JT_the_Man]

Wright will get 3-4 weeks and that's just the way it is in the current climate. It wasn't a dog act, he wasn't sniping, he got him high after bracing a split second before impact when realising Cunningham was coming across his path to the ball he was trying to mark.

The carry on by Sydney, in particular Heeney and Papley after this game is pathetic. Wright will get weeks, get over it. There will be a situation during the next couple of seasons where a Sydney player does a similar action to what Wright has done. It's done on instinct and it's hard to change behaviours of players overnight after being taught a different way for so long.

The only other incident of any note was a late collision from Draper into a Sydney opponent which rightly recieved a 50m penalty. Sydney and their supporters think they can do no wrong.

Based on the Redman precedent from last week Heeney should actually get a week for his clip on Hind which will be quite hilarious.

 

[maskmcgee]

Can't see how anybody can argue he was protecting himself. Consider this scenario:

You're going for a run on the footpath. A kid runs out from behind a fence chasing a ball. You have a split second to react. Do you:

1) Tuck your shoulder in to protect yourself.
2) Put your hands out and try to cushion the impact.

Nobody is going to mow the kid over using their shoulder.

A few weeks ago at work I walked around a 180 degree corner just as someone was coming the other way. I certainly didn't put my arms out, I turned to my shoulder to minimise impact. So no, you don't.

Also you're saying you're going to push them to the ground with your arms instead of just bumping them sideways ?

 

[10571z]

Are people not getting it? How could you suggest zero weeks.

We need to get these sort of impacts out of the game. He could have spoiled or marked.

 

[seanoff]

lol at essendon people. He’s going for an extended break. I’ll be stunned if it’s less than 4

 

[420]

0 weeks $0 fine

"accidents happen"
"he's allowed to protect himself"
"he can't change direction in mid-air"
"it's a football action"

Did I miss any?

 

[BallaratBulldog]

3 weeks so he misses the Dogs game

 

[Bald]

I think it'll be 3 weeks but he's a bit unlucky, reminds me of the Tom Lynch one on Alex Keath

42

Alex Keath

Age

32

Ht

198cm

Wt

93kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.0

4star

K

8.9

3star

HB

5.1

4star

M

5.1

5star

T

1.5

3star

MG

206.7

3star

D

11.0

3star

K

7.3

3star

HB

3.8

3star

M

3.6

4star

T

0.6

1star

MG

193.4

3star

D

11.4

3star

K

6.2

3star

HB

5.2

4star

M

4.6

5star

T

2.6

4star

MG

165.0

3star

last year, that the tribunal threw out.

 

[maskmcgee]

This is the equivalent of whatever the shittest analogy I've ever seen is.

Shows how stupid you are if that's what you think.

 

[Foxx]

Reading some of these comments regarding how Wrights movements, makes me really wonder how many of these posters have actually played the game.

 

[Grand Uncle Horace]

2MP simply followed the clear instructions of his coach. Draper the same on Lloyd.

 

[PenfoldsFan]

Do you think Cunningham had any idea contact was coming? Cause if he did surely he wouldn’t have left himself that open. I’ve said he will get weeks cause that the world we live in. But at what point does the player owe it to themselves to look after their own welfare?

If wright doesnt tuck and turn his shoulder he too exposes himself to possible injury and we see that type of collision in every game, the outcome changes though, when one of the parties gives up on the contest and decides to favour self preservation over the opposition.
If he doesnt turn the shoulder its a regulation contested mark and we applaud Cunninghams courage even if he does come off 2nd best.

 

[Wahooti Fandango]

Doesn’t matter. It was last season and the tribunal doesn’t need to consider previous season’s precedents.

I expect it will be graded careless, high contact and probably severe contact given that Cunningham left the game. So I expect it to be referred to the tribunal.

I thought the impact was more clumsy, and unlike the SPP and Webster incidents, were they went to bump (as much as Port tried to prove SPP wasn’t) Wright miss-timed/got out of shape once he left the ground in a dynamic game.

Still the player is responsible for the outcome. So I can see the AFL asking for 4, which is mitigated to 3. Which given current “community standards” is probably about right.

It takes two to tango, so Cunningham has no responsibility?

 

[Get_The_Gaff]

Are people not getting it? How could you suggest zero weeks.

We need to get these sort of impacts out of the game. He could have spoiled or marked.

Maynard got zero weeks for the same thing . He cost a guy his career
You can see why people have differing options.

My opinion is he will get weeks 3-4 probably but ..... all Wright had to do was put out a hand to punch or both hands to mark and
1. The impact would not have been so serious
2. Has a legitimate claim he was contesting the ball and being the player coming at the ball carrier it should be deemed brave by Cunningham and Wright not at fault .

But he chose to bump instead.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

He’ll get 3+ on the guidelines but there wasn’t a lot in it. At the time thought it was a footy accident basically

 

[10571z]

Maynard got zero weeks for the same thing . He cost a guy his career
You can see why people have differing options.

My opinion is he will get weeks 3-4 probably but ..... all Wright had to do was put out a hand to punch or both hands to mark and
1. The impact would not have been so serious
2. Has a legitimate claim he was contesting the ball and being the player coming at the ball carrier it should be deemed brave by Cunningham and Wright not at fault .

But he chose to bump instead.

How was this possibly like Maynard’s? Completely different situations.

 

[HairyO]

The AFL have a decision to make here.

He wasnt going for the mark so that defence is out. He did brace to protect himself but that clearly was going to cause injury to Cunningham.

So if a player chooses to protect themself and by doing so wipes out another player, is that a bookable offence.

If they are finally going to stop pretending that they care about player welfare, this has to be 4 weeks.

Anything less and it again is proof that everything is lip service. And the lawsuits should just keep rolling.

Aside from that, hopefully Cunningham is ok. That was 100 kilos colliding at full speed. He is lucky if he doesnt have a bunch of serious injuries.

 

[10571z]

The AFL have a decision to make here.

He wasnt going for the mark so that defence is out. He did brace to protect himself but that clearly was going to cause injury to Cunningham.

So if a player chooses to protect themself and by doing so wipes out another player, is that a bookable offence.

If they are finally going to stop pretending that they care about player welfare, this has to be 4 weeks.

Anything less and it again is proof that everything is lip service. And the lawsuits should just keep rolling.

Aside from that, hopefully Cunningham is ok. That was 100 kilos colliding at full speed. He is lucky if he doesnt have a bunch of serious injuries.

Protecting himself!! You can’t just run into a player and KO them and say “I was protecting myself”


He could have easily spoiled the mark, instead ironed him out
4 weeks

 

[HairyO]

Protecting himself!! You can’t just run into a player and KO them and say “I was protecting myself”

4 weeks

Thats my point. The brace to protect yourself cant be allowed anymore. He had all the options, Cunningham had 0.

Which is why I think it should be 4 weeks.

 

[Tandy]

He left the ground to impact the play. Sadly once he wasnntt going to and protected himself he's made the contact. Would love to see the unintentional stuff pass through but he'll cop 4

 

[420]

How was this possibly like Maynard’s? Completely different situations.

Almost identical situations, guernsey is different though

 

[10571z]

Almost identical situations, guernsey is different though

This has to be a troll

 

[Saint12]

Checks fixture.......one week should be enough

 

[420]

This has to be a troll

Left the ground to contest a ball, enters a bumping/self preservation position, hits a player in the head resulting in a brain injury. Pray tell how it's different

 

[Buget]

It takes two to tango, so Cunningham has no responsibility?

Whilst the tribunal puts a heavy weighting on the outcome of the incident, I don’t think the “two to tango” defence will work.

Take the SPP incident. That had 3 players involved, where the 3rd player dynamically changed the scenario by dropping height of the player. SPP had to have quicker reaction times than F1 driver to adjust.

And that wasn’t accepted by the tribunal as mitigation.

He is in trouble.