Brad Fisher king-hit and knocked unconscious
TWO-WEEK ban for a punch that KO’d former Blue Brad Fisher in a country footy game has been met with shock and anger by AFL players.
AFL umpire and former Carlton player Jordan Bannister tweeted vision of the hit with the caption “ONLY 2 WEEKS!”
“Best bloke I played footy with Brad Fisher KO’d and has seizure. Alberton FNL ... take a stronger stance!”
The incident happened on August 8 during a match between Fisher’s Dalyston Magpies and Phillip Island at Dalyston, a small town near Wonthaggi in Victoria’s south Gippsland region. Fisher, who played 99 games from the Blues from 2003-10, suffered concussion and has not played since.
The hit resulted in an investigation and the league handed down its decision after a tribunal hearing on Monday night — suspending Phillip Island’s Will Van Diemen for two weeks for conduct unbecoming.
A further two-week ban is suspended and will only be served if Van Diemen is reported and found guilty before the end of 2016.
AFL Gippsland regional manager Travis Switzer said the league stood by the verdict.
“The process has been pretty thorough, there was an independent investigation that was referred to the tribunal and the tribunal heard all the evidence and the decision was two weeks and two weeks suspended,” he said.
“Jordan posted some footage of the incident and it gained a fair bit of attention. Unfortunately the league has been pasted a little bit on social media.”
He said no party had appealed the decision or indicated an intention to appeal.
The Great Southern Star newspaper reported the bad blood between the sides spilt over at a return match in the league semi-final last Saturday with two more Dalyston players copping high hits — including another former Blue, Bret Thornton.
Thornton was knocked out after allegedly copping an elbow to the temple while the Magpies’ ruckman was out of the game after 30 seconds following a poke in the eye.
Phillip Island players were booed from the field at halftime and a melee erupted at the end of the game after an off-the-ball incident that resulted in a Phillip Island player being yellow-carded and sent from the field.
Dalyston won the game and Fisher is a chance to play in the Grand Final on September 12.
Phillip Island will play Fish Creek in a preliminary final on Saturday, with the winner to face Dalyston in the decider.
Switzer said the league had spoken to Dalyston and Phillip Island officials to remind them “behaviour is really important at this time of year.”
“Country footy is meant to be played in good spirits and we hope both clubs take that on board if they meet again, and in any match they play for the remainder of the year.”
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