SEN host Gerard Whateley has rubbished suggestions that GWS star Toby Greene is treated unfairly by the Match Review Officer and the AFL Tribunal.
Greene was handed a three-match ban for making intentional umpire contact following Tuesday’s marathon Tribunal hearing.
The AFL wanted a six-week ban after Greene was found to be “aggressive, demonstrative and disrespectful” towards umpire Matt Stevic during Saturday’s Elimination Final.
Whateley says Greene is “the luckiest man in Tribunal history” and described the ‘Toby Tax’ theory as “sheer nonsense”.
“This idea that Toby Greene gets treated like nobody else does, that part of it is right in the absolute inverse,” he told SEN’s Whateley.
“Karate kick (Luke) Dahlhaus to the face – that’s a fine, karate kick (Nic) Newman to the stomach – that’s nothing, not even sighted, claw the face of Marcus Bontempelli – get a sweetheart deal for a $7500 fine and then do it again the next week, that’s the only reason he got suspended because he did it again to Lachie Neale.
“He got a two-week suspension for an elbow to the throat which the Tribunal was happy to cut in half – gave him a 50 per cent discount which is actually what the ‘Toby Tax’ is – and this time around it was six weeks down to three on another 50 per cent discount - spare me the ‘Toby Tax’.
“It’s beautiful alliteration and it’s clever punditry – but it’s just not true. It holds up to no level of scrutiny whatsoever.
“Toby Greene is the luckiest man in Tribunal history. Imagine David Rhys-Jones getting off on all of those (charges), he got nailed every single time. Toby doesn’t get nailed.
“‘The Toby Tax’, clever, really good punditry, great alliteration, everything that I like – but total nonsense.”
AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan told reporters on Tuesday that the league is considering appealing Greene’s three-match suspension.
McLachlan said he is perplexed by the Tribunal’s ruling.