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Collingwood star Brayden Maynard has successfully avoided a season-ending suspension at the AFL Tribunal.
Maynard was cited after a collision with Melbourne's Angus Brayshaw in last week's qualifying final.
Collingwood's Brayden Maynard faced a three-week ban for rough conduct over his collision with Melbourne's Angus Brayshaw at the MCG
However the AFL Tribunal found his decision to leave the ground to smother a kick from Brayshaw was not unreasonable, nor was his turning his body away prior to impact
Maynard will now be able to play for Collingwood in next week's prelim final against Port Adelaide or GWS
Maynard left the ground to attempt a smother of a kick from Brayshaw, and his shoulder collided with the Demons' player's head, knocking him out.
Maynard was charged with rough conduct, classified as careless conduct, high contact and severe impact.
He was cleared after a four-hour hearing.
The AFL confirmed on Wednesday it would not be appealing the tribunal's decision.
AFL counsel Andrew Woods argued that Maynard's decision to jump was a breach of duty of care and that once he did jump, his turning his body away rather than spreading his arms wide to cushion the impact with Brayshaw was also a breach.
Maynard was questioned in the hearing, and he said he recalled making contact with the ball despite Brayshaw getting the kick away.
"After I smothered the ball, I came and I looked down and I thought 'Shit, he's there'," he said.
"I sort of seized up. Next thing I know he was on the floor and I was just a bit rattled myself."
Maynard's defence called expert witness Associate Professor Michael Cole from the Australian Catholic University, who had written a report relating to the biomechanics of the incident.
Professor Cole said he did not believe Maynard had made a conscious decision to bump Brayshaw.
"Once he's in flight, he's essentially a projectile. Like a frisbee with arms and legs," he told the Tribunal.
After a 50-minute deliberation, the chair of the Tribunal panel Jeff Gleeson announced the decision.
"We accept a reasonable player would have foreseen at the moment of committing to the act of smothering that some impact with Brayshaw was possible. We find that it was not inevitable from the perspective of a player in Maynard’s position," he said.
"We are not at all satisfied that a reasonable player would have foreseen that violent impact or impact of the type suffered by Brayshaw was inevitable or even likely."
"As to the second basis of the rough conduct general provision, we accept the evidence of Professor Cole that he did not believe that Maynard’s body position at the time of impact can be considered part of any conscious decision.
"Alternative methods of landing as advanced by the AFL may or may not have produced a better outcome for Brayshaw, if Maynard had the time to make a conscious choice as to his body position we find that he had no such sufficient time."
Brayshaw remains in the AFL's concussion protocol and will not be available for Melbourne's semi-final against Carlton this weekend.
Carlton's Jack Martin also successfully appealed his two-match ban on Tuesday night, with the Tribunal downgrading his sentence for a high hit to one match.
It means he will be available to play in the preliminary final if the Blues defeat Melbourne without him this week.
Look back at how Maynard's hearing unfolded in our blog.
That's where we'll leave it
Brayden Maynard's collision with Angus Brayshaw raised the ire of Demons players, but he is free to play in the prelim.(Getty Images)
This ends our live coverage of this evening's AFL Tribunal hearing.
Collingwood will be glad to have Brayden Maynard available for next week, but like them and everyone involved in football, we send our best wishes to Melbourne's Angus Brayshaw and hope that he recovers from his concussion as quickly as possible.
Just a reminder that a second case, that of Carlton's Jack Martin's charge of striking Sydney's Nick Blakey, is currently being heard by the Tribunal.
There will be an update in the story above this blog once the result comes in.
We will be back live with both of this weekend's semifinals - Friday night's clash between Melbourne and Carlton, and Saturday night's meeting between Port Adelaide and GWS.
In the meantime, thank you all for joining us on the live blog, and for all your comments - sorry we couldn't get to all of them!
From myself, Andrew McGarry, good night.
Collingwood comment on the decision
Collingwood has responded to the decision, with Magpies General Manager of Football Graham Wright making a statement after the hearing.
"Firstly, we wanted to reach out to Angus (Brayshaw), we hope he's going well and his family," Wright said.
"No one wants to see a player concussed, and we hope he returns to play as soon as possible.
"(It was) a long hearing, four hours, we're really happy that Brayden is available to play for us in 10, 11 days.
"He was pretty anxious, certainly today leading into this evening (and the hearing).
"We thought he spoke really well around the incident, and he's obviously relieved to be off, but ... he feels for Angus as well and hopes he has a speedy recovery as well."
Your thoughts on the verdict
Surprised that Maynard's off the hook given the fact that Brayshaw ended up having to get stretchered off after that nasty incident, would have expected a lesser suspension given the evidence but not for it to be thrown out altogether.
- Adam
Just as before the verdict, there are some differences of opinion over the panel's decision.
Brayden Maynard will be free to play in Collingwood's preliminary final
The decision made, Chair Jeff Gleeson closes the hearing.
The panel, which includes Gleeson, Stewart Loewe and Jason Johnson, took approximately 50 minutes to reach their conclusion, which was clear cut in favour of Collingwood defender Brayden Maynard.
They found that both of the AFL's arguments regarding careless conduct failed, and said Maynard's actions were reasonable, given the time available to make a decision in the middle of a game.
Maynard is now free to play in Collingwood's preliminary final next week.
We are back with a decision
Chair Gleeson goes through the incident, then goes through the AFL's two arguments.
AFL says he breached duty of care by choosing to jump and then having chosen to jump he did not choose to open arms.
"We find that Maynard's decision was reasonable. He committed to the action several metres away.
"We are not at all satisfied that a reasonable player would see that the impact or outcome (injuries) that resulted were inevitable.
Chair Gleeson says the panel accepts Maynard's body position at the time of impact cannot be considered part of any conscious decision.
"The alternative methods of landing as put by the AFL may have made a difference.
"He would have had to weight up what his other options were.
"The AFL's position was to accept that other modes of landing could have resulted in a reportable offence.
"We find that he was not careless either in his decision to jump or in the falling.
"We are clearly satisfied Maynard did not engage in the act of bumping Brayshaw."
The charge is dismissed.
Tribunal hearing drama in slow motion
This is intense… it’s like a very slow suspenseful movie unraveling in front of you.
- Eunice
Hello Eunice,
Thank you for your comment! Watching the hearing has been dramatic ... and it has certainly taken it's time! But it's been important to get to the facts and arguments, and the time taken to cross-examine Brayden Maynard on his recollections, plus the expert biomechanics evidence of Professor Cole, were all necessary parts of getting this decision right.
We shall see what the outcome is.
Your thoughts on the Maynard case
I think it was a football injury .I think the AFL are concerned for the image of the game and the fact 200 former players have launched civil action for concussion I think the AFL will want a suspension ..I think it may be appealed and Maynard will get off .The AFL will then change the rule that players can not jump in front of a player to attempt a spoil of the boot ..
- Steve Kempster
It's fair to say that there have been a wide spectrum of opinions on this case from your comments.
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