Billy Frampton has had his suspension overturned for the “distressing” tackle that sent his friend and former teammate Brody Mihocek to hospital. The Collingwood defender copped a three-match ban after the tackle was classified as careless, severe impact and high contact by the match review officer in what was a frightening incident that saw the MCG fall silent at the King’s Birthday clash with Melbourne on Monday. At Wednesday night’s tribunal hearing, the Magpies successfully argued against the charge, exonerating him of the ban, meaning he is free to play after Collingwood’s bye this weekend.
Mihocek underwent surgery for a fractured neck on Tuesday and remains in hospital, where he has started walking again. But it was revealed at the hearing that the Demons forward has already been ruled out for the rest of the season. Collingwood accepted the severe impact and high contact gradings, but defence lawyer Myles Tehan argued the tackle wasn’t careless but rather a “terribly unfortunate football incident”.
During his evidence, Frampton described how he did his best to approach the tackle carefully, but couldn’t control the landing given the way Mihocek used his legs to drive through while bent over with his head close to the ground. “It felt like I had him in a pretty stable spot,” Frampton said when describing the way he tackled his former Magpies teammate. “And with him driving through … it raised me up and lifted me up. At that point I was suspended in the air holding onto him, and with his momentum we collapsed through no fault of my own. I thought it would be a quick holding the ball. I didn’t expect to be lifted and falling over. I assumed I could pull him onto me. I didn’t think it would be a high impact landing. But with the driving momentum, it spiralled a little bit into being a bit of an out-of-control landing.”
AFL tribunal counsel Nick Pane conceded it was an unusual tackle and an unusual case, but said Frampton should have modified his action and even let go of the tackle completely given the vulnerable position of his opponent. “He pulls him back and into the ground,” Pane said. “The effect is Mihocek’s head makes forceful contact with the ground at quite an extreme angle. Mihocek was in a vulnerable position and Frampton should have been aware of that and modified his action.”
The three-person AFL tribunal, led by chairman Jeff Gleeson, took 45 minutes to deliberate before dismissing the charge. “This accidental impact resulted in a dreadful injury to Brody Mihocek,” Gleeson said in his summary. “It was, however, not reasonably avoidable. Billy Frampton did not engage in conduct that was unreasonable in the circumstances.”
Frampton would have missed games against Port Adelaide, Richmond and Gold Coast if his ban had been upheld. The 29-year-old expressed his distress about Mihocek’s injury. “We hit the ground. I got the free kick. He sort of lay there and said he needed help, he couldn’t move,” Frampton said. “That was distressing to hear. He said that a few times. It was quite confronting to see. He’s a good friend of mine. I would never in a million years want to hurt any player, let alone Brody. It was a pretty stressful couple of days for me wondering what was going on with him.”
Frampton messaged Mihocek straight after the game. When he didn’t hear back, Frampton again messaged Mihocek after hearing the Demons forward underwent successful surgery. “He replied, and it was good to hear from him,” Mihocek said.
