AFL chief executive officer Gillon McLachlan has confessed he is still "agitated" by the decision of the AFL Appeals Board to overturn Patrick Cripps' two-game suspension for his bump on Brisbane's Callum Ah Chee in Round 21.
The decision essentially played a big role in Cripps winning his first Brownlow Medal, an honour he claimed on Sunday night by one vote.
Cripps' two-match ban was originally upheld by the AFL Tribunal, however, Carlton's counsel had a firm belief they would still be able to get him off, and took it one step further to the Appeals Board where they came out victorious.
Cripps received 0 votes in the Round 22 loss to Melbourne, but received the maximum three votes in Round 23 in a one-point loss to Collingwood, where he collected 35 disposals - 27 of which were contested.
The Carlton skipper's three-vote final round took him to 29 votes and one vote ahead of Lachie Neale, who finished on 28.
“People are aware I was very agitated by that decision,” McLachlan was quoted in a piece for the latest AFL Record.
“It made no sense to me in any way and it is frustrating to have a legal view about due process or procedural fairness - a complete nonsense - really affect a clear mandate to protect the head.
“We confused our supporters and set ourselves back and that really frustrates me.
“When you can have something that is so important, which is protecting the head, and a clear statement from the MRO and backed up by the Tribunal, and then the player getting off because of a legal technicality and nobody really understanding what the hell happened, I find that challenging.
“So, I have asked the guys to review the system and we will see where that lands.”
Should Cripps' suspension have stood, the Blues star would have been deemed ineligible to win the Brownlow Medal, and would've failed to poll more votes than Neale and third-place runner Touk Miller.
