Former North Melbourne captain Jy Simpkin has called out the AFL Tribunal over its decision to uphold teammate Paul Curtis' three-week suspension.
Curtis will miss the next three matches following a tackle on West Coast's Hamish Davis, which resulted in the young Eagle becoming concussed from the incident.
Simpkin referred to an incident in last year's preliminary final in his Instagram post, noting Hawthorn's Mabior Chol didn't receive a ban from a tackle that left Geelong defender Tom Stewart concussed.
"Ball carrier gets concussed, tackler gets off with no suspension."
The following slide was a still image of Curtis' tackle, with the caption: "Ball carrier gets concussed, tackler gets a three-week suspension."
The final slide said: "The AFL needs to get it together, the constant rule changes and the MRO is laughable.
"Players don't know what they can and can't do anymore. Just hope for the best each week."
Even Curtis responded on social media before it was taken down.
View this post on Instagram
The Kangaroos attempted to argue that Davis' forearms were free, and Curtis behaved in a reasonable manner.
- There was only one action
- The momentum through the tackle is the ball-carrier's; the tackle was from the side
- Arms were not pinned, rather arms were held at the biceps, allowing the forearms and hands of the tackled player to be free throughout
- The tackled player goes to ground first with his knees, then both hands, before his head makes contact with the ground, so the force goes through his knees and hands before his head
- The tackler is to Hamish's side, not his back, as they land on the ground.
However, the Tribunal maintained that Curtis did not attempt to release Davis' arms or rotate the Eagle, leaving him in a vulnerable position.
