The bump is no less dead this morning than it was yesterday, but the player who executes the bump and causes damage is slightly more imperilled.
The upshot of the Round 6 spate of bumps was a wave of inflation on the penalty, a measure reinforced by the tribunal last night.
What had been regarded as High impact became Severe. What had been the threshold for Medium rose to High. Each increment carries an additional week suspension.
And with each additional week comes the only effective deterrent for the action of the high velocity, dangerous bump.
Ben Long didn’t bump with malice but he left Sean Darcy with concussion.
That should be regarded as severe impact and it needs to be reinforced with every subsequent judgment of the Match Review Officer.
Concussion is greatest fear in the modern game and needs to be treated with matching gravity by the judicial system.
The Dylan Shiel case was more contentious.
Until now the High Impact category had been reserved for victims who took no further part in the game or sustained damage in the medical report. Essendon’s defence made this case forcefully.
The tribunal set a new precedent by upholding the High impact classification. I asked for the reasoning and this is what the Chairman conveyed:
The jury has concluded that the impact was high and the reasons to which it refers are the potential to cause serious injury to Curtis Taylor, the vulnerability of Curtis Taylor's position prior to impact, that player Shiel was approaching the ball and contact at speed, the significance of the force that resulted in Curtis Taylor rotating or spinning following impact, and that the player was treated for concussion and investigations were conducted off the ground. The jury also wanted to say by way of conclusion it was fortunate the consequences were not greater for Curtis Taylor.
In case law we have a new standard.
That is unfortunate for Shiel, a scrupulously fair player, but it will serve the game well, but only if it is applied consistently henceforth.
Concussion is Severe impact.
A concussion test represents High impact.
We wait to see if it is appropriately applied.
And by the way Brad Ebert and Gary Rohan should feel especially lucky this morning.