Melbourne great Shaun Smith has slammed the “absolutely disgusting” decision to clear Collingwood’s Brayden Maynard’s suspension in a seething social media post.
After being central to five days of intensely passionate and emotional commentary, Maynard on Tuesday night was found not guilty of rough conduct against Brayshaw despite leaving the Demon concussed after a marathon four-hour tribunal hearing.
The public reaction to the tribunal’s verdict was predictably mixed.
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Smith, who was awarded a $1.4 million insurance payout from the AFL in 2020 related to concussion symptoms post-career, took to social media to condemn the decision, saying: “AFL you are an embarrassment and an absolute joke!!!!”
The father of current Demon Joel Smith added to the post: “Absolutely disgusting …. The AFL is a disgusting organisation … I wonder who was on the take to clear this thug.”
The 54-year old, who retired in 1998, responded to one comment: “I’m sure you would say the same thing if it was your son…
“This thug KOs (knocks out) someone, potentially ending their career, and he gets off.”
The AFL, who originally overruled the Match Review Officer by taking the case to the tribunal, has since decided not to appeal the decision to clear Maynard.
Former St Kilda coach Grant Thomas highlighted the legal implication facing the competition given the series of lawsuits it’s faced from ex-players who’ve battled concussion post-career in the hours before the league decided not to appeal.
“Sanity prevails. AFL still considering appealing against decision,” Thomas posted on Twitter.
“So they disputed and overturned MRO decision and sent it to tribunal. Now they’re considering challenging their tribunal decision. All for the “look” as evidence against future litigation.”
Carlton veteran Sam Docherty says he’s “pleased” Maynard escaped suspension, claiming the incident that left Brayshaw concussed was “an unfortunate accident”.
Premiership Magpie Dale Thomas uploaded an Instagram story featuring ecstatic former Magpies president Eddie McGuire trumpeting the Maynard tribunal news to diners at a restaurant.
“Ladies and gentlemen, justice has been done! Maynard is free to play for the Pies!” a passionate McGuire said.
Premiership Eagle Will Schofield, who said the AFL should appeal the tribunal’s call, wrote on X: “In the end, where you sit on this Maynard tribunal decision comes down to whether you like Collingwood or not. Let’s be honest.”
Collingwood legend Nathan Buckley replied: “Or you could have some integrity…”
Speaking on Fox Footy’s AFL 360, a measured Docherty said AFL players understood the dangers associated with playing the game and that unfortunate accidents occur.
“I think there’s an inherent risk in playing AFL footy that sometimes in football actions people are going to get hurt, whether that’s concussion or other injuries. In my eyes, this was an unfortunate accident,” Docherty told AFL 360.
“He’s gone up in a game that’s very important to the football club to smother the ball on the way down, you’ve got 0.15 of a second to try and change your body position or get out of the way … the duty of care would’ve been to not jump and smother, but smothering in our game of footy is an integral part.
“I don’t think we’ll find too many situations where this will exactly happen, but there’s risk in playing – and that’s OK, we all go out there knowing that. It’s very unfortunate for Angus to be in the position he’s in, but I’m pleased he (Maynard) has got off.”
Giants captain Toby Greene added: “I honestly thought he’d get off, so I’m not too surprised. I know there was a lot of conjecture over it, but was expecting him to get off – and he did.”
Originally published as Melbourne great Shaun Smith slams ‘disgusting’ Brayden Maynard call