Toby Greene's manager Paul Connors has expressed his outrage after his client's latest attempt to have his one-game suspension removed was upheld by the AFL Appeals Board, which will officially see Greene miss this week's preliminary final against Collingwood.
The decision leaves the Giants under-strength in the midfield, with star Lachie Whitfield also missing the preliminary final with appendicitis.
Connors did not hold back when speaking on Sportsday, saying the Appeals Board didn’t want to “overturn their friends’ decision”.
“I sat through the two-hour hearing. I think the issue is we probably should not have been there in the first place given the events of Tuesday night,” Connors said.
“As our QC said, it was just a hopeless decision in the first place and I sat through and watched the vision 1000 times and I have no idea how they’ve come to the conclusion at the MRO or Tuesday night, how they could find him guilty of touching Neale’s face.
“I’m flabbergasted, I’m devastated for Toby and I think we’ve got to ask some questions.
“I could not agree more (that Greene is victimised because of his reputation). If this was any other player, this would not have even got through the MRO.”
Connors also added that Greene is gutted with the decision and he has never seen a worse decision.
“He’s gutted. It’s a Preliminary Final we’re talking about. If this was a Collingwood player, there would be uproar,” he said.
“In over 20 years of management, I’ve never seen a worse decision.
“You can have your opinions on Toby, but on the facts of the facts, this is a disgrace.”
