Laura Kane questioned over tackle row, Appeals Committee quashes suspensions of Charlie Cameron and Toby Bedford, Tribunal, confusion, state of play, AFLPA response, latest news

The AFL’s head of football operations Laura Kane has reiterated the league’s “disappointment” that the Appeals Committee dismissed this week’s controversial cases on a “legal formality”. She pledged the league’s commitment to the health and safety of players.

The state of the sport and the legal process have come into focus after three-match bans for Charlie Cameron and Toby Bedford for dangerous tackling were upheld by the Tribunal, before being quashed by the Appeals Committee due to a “legal error”.

It has caused widespread confusion across the football world, but the AFL said in a statement it still stands by the original suspensions and confirmed it had sent several examples of “dangerous” and “safe” tackles to clubs to provide clarity going forward.

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Asked by announcer Gerard Whateley on AFL Nation: “Was it an embarrassing week for the league’s legal system?”, Kane played down any type of disarray and suggested the recent Appeals Board reversals were a “unique” turn of events.

“We are disappointed with the outcome and that it was based on a legal formality,” she began.

“But we are very clear about the process and the guidelines of the tribunal, the MRO process and the steps that have been taken to have these cases heard. So not (embarrassed) at all.”

Kane continued to uphold the league’s commitment to player welfare while placing increasing emphasis on eliminating dangerous acts.

She stressed that the AFL will continue to work with clubs and the wider football community to ensure clarity about what is and is not considered a legal tackle.

“We have a role to play around the health and safety of players. That’s something we will not apologize for or shy away from and it’s something we’re very clear about,” Kane said.

“What we know is that coaches and players are good at adapting. This year we’ve seen 18,508 tackles – seven of them suspended via MRO – two more if you include Bedford and Cameron – and the rest are safe.

“We need to make sure that people understand what we mean when we talk about a safe tackle or a tackle that is not considered rough behaviour. There are plenty of examples.

“We will work with our clubs, as we did today, we sent them some snippets and we will continue to work with our players and coaches.”

This came after AFLPA chief executive Brett Murphy raised concerns about the “real confusion” between players and tacklers and that “I don’t believe what is being asked of them at the moment is reasonable”.

Kane was disappointed that she understood the question and confirmed that she had spoken to AFLPA acting CEO Regan Bunny to ensure they were on the same page.

“I understand the question and the comments… I spoke to (Bunny) about it yesterday,” she added.

“Our job is to make sure that we are constantly communicating. If people tell us that we need more information, different information, clips, vision, then we do that.

“We want to make sure that our fans, all the way down to our players, understand what we mean.”

Kane concluded that she was open to feedback from the football world, but that she felt there had to be a balance between player health and safety.

“I love discussions. I love listening to people tell me what they think and what their ideas are. I love walking into a stadium and I love sitting at our CEO conference this week,” she said.

“I am always open to learning and understanding how we can adjust and improve things.

“But in between, we will not apologize for the health and safety of the players. We have changed over 35 rules, I think we can all agree that the game is still as good as it has ever been.

“We know we can improve player health and safety while maintaining or improving quality, and that’s what we’ll continue to do.”