It is unquestionably the biggest story heading into this Saturday's AFLW Grand Final. A story that has sent women's football into a tailspin and a story that has left many Bulldogs supporters angry, frustrated and bewildered.
I am of course, talking about Katie Brennan's suspension.
It was revealed on the Monday that the one-man Match Review Panel that is Michael Christian, handed out a one-match suspension to the captain of the Western Bulldogs' AFLW team for a sling tackle on Melbourne's Harriet Cordner that was classified as rough conduct. Careless and low-impact to the head.
Due to this being the second offence that Katie Brennan has carried out this year – the first being a rough conduct charge against Stephanie Cain – the match review panel had no choice but to give her the one-match sanction, meaning that she will miss the AFLW Grand Final between the Western Bulldogs and the Brisbane Lions.
The Bulldogs' captain took it to the tribunal in hopes of getting out of the suspension, but it was to no avail, and instead she received a two-week suspension. The look of Brennan's face after the hearing told the story of heartbreak, absolutely shattered that she won't get to lead her ladies out against the Brisbane Lions on Saturday afternoon.
Because of what little the women's players get offered to play the game they love, they don't get any fines, just a warning and then a two-week suspension, lowered to one with an early plea. Now just because the rules are the rules here, doesn't make it any less wrong. This is still a very horrible call from the AFL.
Brennan's tackle on Cordner was one that caused no harm to the Melbourne player whatsoever. However, because her head was driven into the turf means that it has to be automatically charged by the Match-Review Panel. Not even 10 years ago could you get away with that – proof to how soft this great game of ours has become.
Now I get that the AFL want to ensure the players are safe – I really do. Concussions are a horrible thing in the AFL and have the capacity to end the careers of players, so to a degree, I endorse what they are trying to do in regards to sling tackles, because we've seen it many a time throughout 2017 and over the past couple of years.
I think back to Brodie Grundy's tackle on Ben Brown in the AFL last year in a tackle that left Brown knocked out and stretchered off Etihad Stadium. I think back to the tackle that Patrick Dangerfield laid on Matthew Kreuzer which ended up with the 2016 Brownlow Medallist ineligible for back-to-back Brownlows.
And then of course was the Trent Cotchin incident in the Preliminary Final against Greater Western Sydney last year. This moment in the Preliminary Final had many people believing that the Richmond captain should've sat out of the 2017 AFL Grand Final and ultimately was the premiership captain when it was all said and done. There was nothing wrong with going for the ball. Unfortunately, his shoulder collected Shiel in the head and it forced him to eventually sit out of the rest of the game with a delayed concussion.
With the AFL having a three-strike policy on these sort of incidents, Cotchin was facing his third strike and the penalty for the third strike was a suspension. At the time, I didn't believe his hit warranted a ban and my belief still stands today. Thankfully the right call was made and he was let off, but this decision has split the AFL community and still when we think of incidents that lead to concussion, we often think back to this moment in this particular game.
Accidents happen in any kind of workplace and the AFL is no exception. If Cotchin got off for going for the footy and unintentionally hurting someone in the process, Katie Brennan should be in the Grand Final for a tackle that caused no harm to anyone. It was somewhat of a dangerous tackle, but it should've been a free kick and that is that.
If you put the Cotchin incident or even Grundy's tackle and compare it with Katie Brennan's tackle, you would say it's a complete unjustice and it's a just typical of the AFL's inconsistent nature. Well here's where that statement is false. Michael Christian only took over as the Match Review Panel this year, so anything that happened in the year before is irrelevant. But it still doesn't shade the fact that a two-week suspension for a tackle that didn't hurt anyone is a flat-out disgrace.
The head is sacrosanct in the AFL these days and even if you don't mean to sling tackle and their head has been driven into the turf or hit them high, they'll still slap you with a ridiculous penalty, whether it be by financial sanction or suspension. It's pathetic to see the game come to this, but the AFL could've potentially be seen as a careless organisation if something hadn't been done about the number of players suffering from concussion.
Why don't the women get a three-strike policy similar to men's? Why can't they? Surely the lack of financial sanctions can't be the main reason. If it is, then this is absolutely piss poor from the AFL. The AFL - supposedly - promotes equality, so where is the equality with the women? Where is the 'three-strike' policy that the men's game has?
One reprimand and then suspension is not good enough and the women deserve as many chances as the men do. Regardless of what their pay is or the skill difference between the two leagues.
However any remaining chance that Brennan has to appeal it looms as an uphill battle. AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan backed Michael Christian's decision quoting in the Herald Sun: "They got to a different conclusion this time... They made that decision and they go one way or the other. Having the independent body that they had or Michael Christian, you know who they are and their job is only to apply the rules as they see it" Keep in mind, even though this is the CEO we are talking about, this is the same numpty that thought it was a fantastic idea to have the AFLX and place it right in the middle of the AFLW season. His opinions and thoughts have about as much relevancy as the opinions of a few ex-AFL footballers. I won't name names here.
Sometimes AFL is a cruel sport. One night, you're celebrating your team getting into the Grand Final for the very first time, the next minute you're fighting a one-week suspension for a completely nonsense call from the so-called 'Match Review Panel' and end up on the losing side of it.
I will applaud Michael Christian for his consistency so far this year, but in the case of Western Bulldogs captain Katie Brennan, he has got it all wrong and this whole debacle is just proof of how soft this great game has become.
And before anyone accuses me of bias, trust me when I say this isn't me speaking with rose-coloured glasses. If anyone from the Brisbane Lions AFLW team were in this position, I would gladly present the same argument.
EDITORS NOTE: As I write this article, the Western Bulldogs have announced that they will appeal will the two-match suspension from the tribunal. A wonderful call by the football club and fingers crossed that Katie is free to play Saturday.