Jarrod Berry is free to play in Friday night’s preliminary final against Geelong, with the midfielder overturning a one-match ban at the AFL Tribunal.
Berry was contesting a finding from Match Review Officer Michael Christian that he made “unreasonable or unnecessary contact” to Clayton Oliver’s eye region, which was graded intentional conduct with low impact and high contact.
The Lions, represented by Adrian Anderson, argued Berry’s actions were not intentional or careless, saying contact to Oliver’s eye region was accidental.
Brisbane called on former player and Hawthorn champion Luke Hodge as a character reference, as well as a neurosurgeon to make its case.
The AFL, represented by Nick Pane KC, argued Berry had an awareness of where Oliver’s eyes were when he was made contact with him.
Hodge spoke glowingly of Berry’s determination to make himself and his teammates better and flatly denied Berry would ever intentionally make contact with the eye region of an opponent.
The neurosurgeon said Berry’s actions were “necessary to allow him to relieve the pressure that was applied to his throat”.
Berry, giving evidence, said he felt “under threat” during the incident and was simply trying to get Oliver off him.
After deliberating for half an hour, the Tribunal found that Berry’s actions were not unreasonable or unnecessary in the circumstances.
Going further, the Tribunal said even if Berry’s actions were to be deemed unreasonable or unnecessary, the conduct would’ve been downgraded from intentional to careless, which would’ve resulted in a fine.
As the news of his teammate’s success broke, Lachie Neale told AFL 360: “That’s great, great news. I sort of tried to follow a little bit of the case... I think that the right decision was made. Really happy for Jarryd and for us, that’s great news.”
He added that it would have been a ‘big loss’ had he lost and been banned.
“His second half of footy on the weekend was one of the best halves of footy I’ve seen. He’s an important player for us, he plays outside or inside midfield roles and does it splendidly.”
Tribunal findings summary:
“There was significant pressure applied to Berry’s throat region by Oliver. It’s not suggested this was intentional, but it was real and forceful. Berry’s action with his left hand occurred because he felt pressure to his throat region. We accept his evidence he felt under threat and wanted to get Oliver off him.
“This would be a natural human reaction to feeling forceful pressure on the throat … we find Berry had limited visibility of Oliver’s face in a vigorous grapple and he had no real clear view that he was about to or was making contact with Oliver’s eye region … when played at normal speed and taking into account Berry’s evidence, which we accept, we can’t be satisfied he could see clearly where his hand was.
“We find he did not intend to make contact with Oliver’s eye region specifically. Contact was fleeting and not forceful. It caused no injury and little if any discomfort to Oliver.
“A reasonable player would not regard the contact as imprudent and there was a justifiable reason for the action, being the forceful pressure Berry felt to his throat.”
