“I’m really sorry about what happened on Sunday. It’s something I’m not proud of[and] I’ve let a lot of people down. I don’t really have an excuse as to why,” Webster said.
“It’s such a quick decision and clearly I got it wrong.”
Webster also echoed his statement on Monday,stressing the importance of protecting player’s heads:“I understand how bad concussions are and how much we want to see them stamped out.”
It is Simpkin’s third concussion within 12 months,fourth in his career,which has ruled him out of North Melbourne’s round-one clash against Greater Western Sydney on March 16. The club’s general manager of football Todd Viney said the player’s health and well-being was their number on priority.
“Given Jy’s concussion history,our medical team will take a conservative approach to his management and recovery as per the AFL’s concussion protocols,” said Viney.
“Jy came into the club today,he’s doing well and is in good spirits but his official return-to-play timeline is unclear at this point as it depends on his progress.”
The incident prompted a slew of impassioned responses from the wider AFL community,with ex-North Melbourne player David King claiming it warranted a 10-match ban and Collingwood legend Nathan Buckley saying eight matches would be the “median”.
“I think the change in community standards we saw with the Powell-Pepper decision – four weeks is a big whack – and he got that for something that might’ve got off 12 months ago,” the former Magpies coach said on Fox Footy. “I think it’s going to be a big whack (for Webster). I reckon eight is about the median it would be.”
Former Melbourne and North Melbourne player Shaun Smith,who suffered repeated concussions throughout his playing career and wasawarded a $1.4 million insurance payout for concussions damages in 2020,said Webster should have “the book thrown at him”,agreeing with King’s 10-match suggestion.
“I’ve been on the receiving end of a couple of those[hits]. And for me,it’s just a coward’s act. It’s not tough … He could have easily avoided it. He could have tackled him,he could have just pushed him over. Not left the ground with his shoulder leading into his[Simpkin’s] face,” said Smith.
“Everyone is focusing on the hit. I’m more worried about Jy’s health rather than the hit. We’ve got to be better at that. We’ve got to look at the whole thing but if there is an incident,there’s going to be some rogue incidents … it’s how we deal with it after and talking about playing round one,it’s not the dialogue we want to hear[opposed to adequate treatment for a brain injury].”
Webster’s action reignited the red card system argument,as Brownlow medallist Gerard Healy told 3AW actions such as Webster’s hit on Simpkin should warrant the offending player be immediately sent off.
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St Kilda coach Ross Lyon said ahead of the tribunal there was a “real concern for Jy” and that Webster’s action were impermissible.
“We understand it is going to be a significant ban and as a coach you don’t want to lose one of your really good players,but you’ve got to pay a price and he understands that,” Lyon told the AFL website.
“The bottom line is it was an unacceptable action on a footy field.”
North Melbourne’s Tristan Xerri and Bailey Scott and St Kilda’s Liam Henry and Rowan Marshall were handed fines for their part in a scuffle between the sides following the incident. Kangaroos coachAlastair Clarkson apologised for verbally abusing Webster in an expletive-ridden,quarter-time spray.
Smith declined to comment on the situation of his son,Joel,a Melbourne player who was alleged by Sport Integrity Australia to have breached the AFL’s anti-doping code in September 2022 by “selling,giving,transporting,sending,delivering or distributing” cocaine to others.
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