'They'll find a way': Great's Tribunal loophole theory that could ...

Brownlow Medal fancy and Swans superstar Isaac Heeney is in hot water this week after an off-the-ball incident against the Saints, but one AFL great believes there’s a good chance he remains eligible for footy’s highest individual honour.

In the third quarter of Sydney’s meeting with St Kilda at Marvel Stadium, Heeney initiated a high, swinging fend-off to Saints defender Jimmy Webster – who was left bleeding from his nose – as he attempted to gain separation in a lead to the ball.

But St Kilda champion Leigh Montagna revealed on Fox Footy’s First Crack that “there’s precedence there” which could see the Swans star avoid a suspension and therefore remain eligible for the Brownlow Medal.

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“The big story is the Isaac Heeney incident with Jimmy Webster that is almost certain to see him get suspended and cop a week sanction for this off-the-ball incident,” Montagna began.

“For a guy that at one stage was the raging hot favourite for the Brownlow Medal, he’s probably going to have an asterisk next to his name on Brownlow night, which is probably good news for Daicos, Cripps and Bontempelli.

“This incident is going to most likely get him a one-week suspension… in the past that would be classed as careless, there was no way he intentionally meant to hit Jimmy Webster in the face, but at the start of the year, the AFL came down and said they wanted to clamp down on these off the ball incidents.”

The AFL rule change amendment reads: In instances where a player intends to forcefully push or fend an opposition player off the ball (including to gain separation for the purpose of contesting the ball) and the effect is that the player “strikes” their opponent, the strike will usually be grades as intentional rather than Careless.

Earlier this season, Giants forward Jesse Hogan received a one-match ban for an incident with Carlton’s Lewis Young, while Port Adelaide jet Zak Butters also received a week’s ban from the MRO for a similar incident.

However, both players contested those charges at the Tribunal and those bans were overturned.

“There’s precedence there, his best chance is to go to the Tribunal, fight it and get it downgraded from intentional to careless,” Montagna said.

North Melbourne champion David King claimed, “the AFL don’t like asterisks” and that he believes ultimately Heeney will be free to play in the Swans’ clash with North Melbourne at the SCG in round 18.

“They don’t like asterisks at the AFL, on Brownlow night they don’t like them. If you’re in the running, sometimes you can have a bit of fortune… I’m a believer that they do slant one way on this sort of thing,” King said.

The Fox Footy expert highlighted Patrick Cripps’ case where the AFL Appeals Board overturned a two-match ban involving Lion Callum Ah Chee in 2022 as a case in point. Cripps went on to win the Brownlow that same season.

“If there’s a way to navigate through, they’ll find that way,” King continued.

“To me that’s a week, everyone’s known that since the start of the season, but we’ve just allowed these things creep back into the game again.

Montagna finished by pointing out that thankfully, the incident didn’t have any major ramifications on the result of a thrilling contest at Marvel Stadium.

“In the end that wasn’t costly, but it was a significant moment in the game. How four umpires and the umpire in that zone did not see that, St Kilda were only six points down then, they’d kicked five on the trot and were coming, Isaac Heeney takes that mark kicks a goal and gets another a minute later to give them an 18-point lead, it would’ve been a bigger story if Sydney had have held on to win.”

Heeney will learn his fate this afternoon when the AFL finalises it’s match review findings from Sunday’s games.