Toby Greene’s manager Paul Connors has expressed his outrage at his client’s inability to have his suspension overturned at the AFL Appeals Board.
The midfielder’s one-week ban for suspicious contact to the face of Lachie Neale has been upheld by both the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday and the Appeals Board tonight, leaving him unable to face Collingwood in Saturday’s Prelim.
The decision leaves the Giants understrength in the midfield, with Lachie Whitfield already ruled out with appendicitis.
Connors did not hold his frustrations back on Sportsday, saying the Appeals Board didn’t want to “overturn their friends’ decision”.
“I sat through the two-hour hearing. I think the issue is we probably should not have been there in the first place given the events of Tuesday night,” Connors said.
“As our QC said, it was just a hopeless decision in the first place and I sat through and watched the vision 1000 times and I have no idea how they’ve come to the conclusion at the MRO or Tuesday night, how they could find him guilty of touching Neale’s face.
“I’m flabbergasted, I’m devastated for Toby and I think we’ve got to ask some questions.
“I could not agree more (that Greene is victimised because of his reputation). If this was any other player, this would not have even got through the MRO.”
Connors adds Greene is gutted with a decision the manager deems is the worst he’s seen.
“He’s gutted. It’s a Preliminary Final we’re talking about. If this was a Collingwood player, there would be uproar,” he said.
“In over 20 years of management, I’ve never seen a worse decision.
“You can have your opinions on Toby, but on the facts of the facts, this is a disgrace.”