Toby Greene has been suspended for three matches after being found guilty of making intentional contact with an umpire following an incident with Matt Stevic at three-quarter time of his side's dramatic 74-73 elimination final win over Sydney.
The suspension rules Greene out of this Friday's semi final against Geelong, as well as possible preliminary and grand final appearances should GWS qualify.
Greene earlier pleaded not guilty at the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday morning, having been referred straight there after being charged with making intentional contact with an umpire.
The Giants star appeared to bump into umpire Stevic while frustrated at a reversed free kick shortly before the break.
A second angle confirmed there was contact between Greene and Stevic, leaving match review officer Michael Christian little choice but to refer the incident directly to the tribunal.
Side angle of the Toby incident 👇 pic.twitter.com/0FPILykAR5
— 7AFL (@7AFL) August 29, 2021
Per the AFL's 2021 Tribunal guidelines:
"Contact with an Umpire that is aggressive, forceful, demonstrative or disrespectful will be deemed intentional and the Player will be directly referred to the Tribunal."
Greene's representative Ben Ihle QC was hoping to argue the contact with the official was neither aggressive, forceful, demonstrative or disrespectful.
Stevic was called upon to give evidence, saying he didn't lodge a matchday report as he "wasn't 100 per cent sure" the contact was unreasonable, unnecessary or intentional.
The experienced umpire said he didn't find Greene's language abusive or feel threatened by the "minor contact," but did finish by saying, having reflected on the incident, it wasn't a "good look for the game."
Stevic with a kicker. "To be honest I don't think it's a good look for the game. Not forceful, but some may form the view it’s demonstrative. There’s an element of it that is disrespectful."
— Sam Edmund (@Sammy__Edmund) August 31, 2021
In giving his evidence, Greene apologised for making contact with Stevic and conceded it was a poor look but said he was distracted and tried to roll his shoulder to avoid contact when he realised how close he was to the umpire.
AFL counsel Jeff Gleeson QC said he could have completely avoided contact like teammate Harry Perryman had done, while Greene denied "bumping" Stevic.
Gleeson's closing statement labelled Greene's actions "insolent and contemptuous."
In his final comments, Ihle said the panel should consider "what was going through Toby Greene's mind" at the point of contact, and not just base their decision on the "look" of the incident.
Were Greene successful, he'd likely have had the charge downgraded to unreasonable or unnecessary contact with an umpire, which carries with it a $1,500 fixed financial sanction.
After a marathon hearing in which Greene had to be excused to fly to Perth with his teammates, a three-man panel of Shane Wakelin, Stephen Jurica and Richard Loveridge determined the 27-year-old's fate, ruling the contact was aggressive, demonstrative and disrespectful.
Gleeson had proposed a suspension of no less than six matches, while Ihle argued for a $20,000-$25,000 fine.
In the end, they landed on a three-game ban, delivering a massive blow to GWS' hopes for a maiden flag.
The Giants confirmed they wouldn't appeal the decision.
"We accept the Tribunal’s decision and we won’t be appealing the sanction handed down today," football manager Jason McCartney said.
"As a club we maintain that umpires are sacrosanct and we understand the importance of the role they play in our game. They are to be respected at all times by everyone, across all levels of the game.
"We know Toby also feels this way and is very remorseful for what we believe was an avoidable accident.
"We thank Umpire Stevic for the context he provided today and will now look to put the matter behind us as we look forward to Friday night’s game against Geelong."