Verdict on Eagle’s serious misconduct charge; AFL great’s desperate plea for ‘umpiring flaw’ — Daily

A second-year player has been cleared of serious misconduct by a state league Tribunal, after allegedly performing a crude act.

Plus, an Australian Football Hall of Fame member has pleaded for greater consistency from umpires in one key discipline. More below in AFL Daily!

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YOUNG EAGLE CLEARED OF SERIOUS MISCONDUCT

West Coast forward Malakai Champion has been cleared by the WAFL Tribunal for an alleged nose-blowing incident on June 13.

The hearing for Champion’s ‘serious misconduct’ charge took roughly 90 minutes on Wednesday evening, with both Champion and Swans District defender Sebastian Bright presenting evidence on the matter.

There was no video footage of the alleged incident in their Round 10 WAFL fixture, where the 20-year-old Eagle was alleged to have performed a “bushman’s blow” on his opponent.

He was referred directly to the tribunal for the act, which involves placing one finger over a nostril and blowing out of the other.

Champion was found not guilty on the grounds of inconclusive evidence, after not fronting the tribunal last week due to West Coast’s mandatory mid-season break.

“WA Football advises that West Coast Eagles player Malakai Champion has been found not guilty of serious misconduct following an incident in the Round 10 Sullivan Logistics WAFL match against Swan Districts at Steel Blue Oval on Saturday, June 13,” WA Football said in a statement.

“The incident occurred during the second quarter of the match with Champion sent to the WAFL Tribunal, which was held on Tuesday evening.

“The WAFL Tribunal found the evidence against Champion was inconclusive.”

Champion has played eight of his 10 AFL career games this season, and has kicked four goals.

‘COULDN’T BREATHE’: CONFUSION OVER UMPIRE DISSENT REACHES NEW HIGH

Melbourne great Garry Lyon has pleaded the AFL to be more consistent with their officiating of player dissent moving forward, after walking back their hard-lined stance in recent times.

Speaking on Fox Footy’s AFL 360, the Australian Football Hall of Fame member spoke in response to several examples of Gold Coast captain Noah Anderson expressing disappointment at several umpiring decisions in recent weeks.

“I’ve heard all this before, to be honest Gerard,” Lyon said on Tuesday night.

“Maybe not to this point, but there was a crackdown on on-field abuse as well, which is much more visual and has much more of an affect on juniors and understanding respect to umpires.

“We went through a stage where you couldn’t point, you couldn’t look, you couldn’t breathe … and then slowly, there’s no statement from AFL House saying ‘we’re just going to loosen this up a little bit’. It just changes to the point now where you look at it and go: ‘It’s open slather again. You can argue, you can gesticulate, you can challenge, you can point to the scoreboard – and sometimes they do pay it when you do that, sometimes they don’t.’ So come on, either make a rule you consistently enforce and don’t just let it slacken over a 12-week period.

“I’m supporting (the umpires), but don’t pay lip service to other statements that you make about umpire criticism and abuse from players – and then come down heavy with a $20,000 fine on this. Be consistent.

“I ask the AFL, if you’re listening: ‘Can I argue with the umpire? What degree can I argue? Can I point to the scoreboard now or can I not?’ Because I see both and sometimes you get a 50 (metre penalty) and sometimes you don’t.”

389-game umpiring great Ray Chamberlain simply responded: “No argument.”

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