Rules Committee to Blame for Franklin Fiasco

Once Lance Franklin was charged with rough conduct, it was only going to go one way.

Credit to the Hawks for fighting the good fight and challenging the suspension, but to the letter of the law he was guilty and his challenge and subsequent appeal were always going to fall on deaf ears.

Indeed it took a panel of three QCs just five minutes to throw out the appeal last night, after a hearing which lasted nearly two hours.

The problem started when the rules were changed after Nick Maxwell’s successful challenge to a suspension during the nab Cup.

And herein lies the blame – it’s in the rules, not in the player.

Franklin did nothing wrong. Even the tribunal agreed his actions were reasonable. He didn’t leave the ground to bump Ben Cousins, he didn’t aim for his head, and he had his elbows tucked in. By anyone’s definition it was a perfect shirt-front.

Cousins’ injury was incidental, or accidental. And it is there that the rule is hopelessly inadequate. Surely a player can’t be blamed for an accident? Well, that’s exactly why Franklin will be watching from the stands this weekend.

The bump might be frowned upon, but it isn’t dead … yet.

One can only hope that the reckless people who created this rule will look at Franklin’s situation and change the rule again to absolve players of suspension when their intentions are good.

It’s no wonder Nathan Buckley left the rules committee a couple of years ago, admitting he felt compromised by too many rule changes.

“I believe there should be a moratorium of sorts on rule changes and I have felt that for a while. I think constant changes if they are not halted in the near future will (damage the game)," he said at the time.

Footy ten years ago was great – contested footy is what people want to see.

If the law-makers really want to outlaw the bump, we are getting closer and closer to ‘that basketball crap’ Kevin Sheedy spoke about a couple of years ago.