Brendan Fevola urges Port Adelaide to fight Dan Houston charge over nasty Izak Rankine bump
The former Carlton and Brisbane player insists the bump was "fair and square".
Brendan Fevola has urged Port Adelaide to fight Dan Houston's potentially season-ending ban, claiming the Power star did nothing wrong. Houston has been sent straight to the AFL tribunal for a brutal bump on Izak Rankine that knocked the Adelaide Crows forward out in Port Adelaide's crucial 11.14 (80) to 8.10 (58) victory at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.
Houston laid out Rankine in the third quarter with a vicious shot as the Crows player was unaware of Houston's presence as he only had eyes for the ball. Rankine was on the ground for several minutes before being taken off the ground on a medical cart and was ruled out of the game due to concussion.
The Match Review Officer graded the incident as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact, sending Houston straight to the tribunal. Such a classification carries a ban of three or more matches, while a classification of intentional would have been a ban of four or more games. It's yet to be made public how long of a ban the AFL will push for at the tribunal on Tuesday night.
After Rankine left the field Port Adelaide took control of the match, which led to many online debating whether the AFL should introduce send-offs while also calling for Houston to receive a season-ending ban. However, Fevola believes that talk is ridiculous and claimed Houston should be cleared entirely, emphasising that AFL players are fully aware that contact is just a part of the sport.
The former Carlton and Brisbane player urged Port Adelaide to fight any suspension handed down to Houston on Tuesday, insisting the bump was completely legal and within the rules of the game. "There’s been an outcry of all these experts saying, ‘Throw the book at him!’ Everyone’s saying 4-6 weeks. Port Adelaide are second on the ladder and they’ve only got really three games left, if they win all their games to a Grand Final. So, if he gets suspended for this, he may miss a Grand Final," Fevola said on Fox FM's Fifi, Fev & Nick Show.
“I don’t think he should get anything. Now the reason I say this: we're big on concussions and head (injuries) but, you know what, AFL footballers know that you may get concussed in a contact sport that has been played for over 150 years. You go out there and you know you’re going to get hit, somewhere, sometime, in one of the games you’re going to play.
"He hit him fair and square. In all our rules of the game, if you elect to bump and you hit someone’s head - you’re done, you’re suspended, fair enough. But in the rule book, it doesn't say you can't hip and shoulder. If you hip and shoulder a player, hit him fair and square, don't touch his head, and his head hits the ground… well, that's just shit, that’s unlucky. He (Rankine) got knocked out when he hit the ground.
“Everyone's saying, ‘He (Houston) should have been sent off. Bring the send-off rule, what happens if that was in a grand final?”… unlucky. If you get hit (in a Grand Final) and you get knocked out after you hit the ground with your head, well, that's unfortunate. Hopefully, Isaac Rankin is okay, but he's going to miss next week.
RELATED:
Tom Lynch's staggering revelation in wake of Dustin Martin's retirement
Port fans savaged over 'disgusting' act as Dan Houston faces huge ban
Brad Scott under heavy fire over Dyson Heppell move in Essendon loss
Brendan Fevola says concussions are part of the game
Fevola believes the tribunal will likely hand Houston a four-week ban but they will have to clear him if Port Adelaide challenges the ruling as the incident isn't a reportable offence. "He (Houston) will be put straight to the tribunal today. He’ll get four weeks. But then (Port Adelaide) will find a loophole that will get him off. A hip and shoulder is not a reportable offence. If you take that out of our game, our game is stuffed. It’s about contact. If you go out and expect to not be hit, it’s not our game.
"Don’t be changing rules for the sake of people getting head injuries, because you know (as an AFL player) the risk of heading out onto a footy ground. I know that when I go out and play local footy now – I’m thinking I don’t want to be knocked out – but I know that could happen."
If Houston is handed a four-match ban, his slim hopes of playing in a grand final will rest on Port Adelaide - who currently sit second on the ladder - losing in the first week of the finals but then bouncing back with a win to advance to the decider. But if he is given a four-game ban and the above scenario doesn't occur there is every chance that he has played his final game for the Power.
The 27-year-old is contracted to Port until the end of 2027 but is reportedly considering a move home to Victoria. And following the incident Port Adelaide coach threw his support behind the Power star who he says is a really good person.
"Once he cools down there'll be a moment," Hinkley said in his post-match press conference. "He's a really fair player, he's an outstanding person. Anyone who's been involved in those types of situations I'm sure ... they know what's going on. They feel the consequence of what's happened.
"He'll wait and see what's delivered to him and he'll move on from there. He's a really, really good person. I can't say it enough. And I know people will sit there and go, 'I don't care whether he's a really, really good person'. I do. I care about him. He's a fantastic bloke."
