Why the Isaac Heeney ban exposes an outdated Brownlow Medal; AFL Finals; Sydney Swans; AFL grand final; Sydney Swans; Brisbane Lions

“Fairest” really meant that you had avoided suspension. Theoretically, the umpires might be more inclined to award votes to the “fair” player – one who seldom, if ever, deploys questionable violence on field – rather than the less scrupulous player. But that wasn’t necessarily true.

Heeney’s case is one that should invite a review of the Brownlow Medal’s rules and to consider whether the prohibition on suspended players should continue.

I would argue that, considering the revolutionary and welcome changes in how the game is policed on the field, it is faintly absurd to deprive a player of the medal for a one-match ban for a negligent tackle or something similar.

AFL players of today are handed suspensions for acts that often wouldn’t have drawn a free kick in decades past.

Heeney’s was hardly heinous. His suspension came from throwing a stray arm back – seemingly to break free – and thus collecting St Kilda’s Jimmy Webster high, as he went on to take a mark unopposed.

The tribunal case and appeal were much-discussed, with the public and punditry split on whether Heeney deserved a week off or not (it was definitely a free).

But the fact that this was debatably reportable – a split-second incident on the edge of acceptable aggression, much like some over-vigorous tackles – underscored the problem that contemporary officiating and “clean” rules have created for the Brownlow.

Players of recent years are being rubbed out, often for a week, for collisions that exist in the twilight zone between accident and “negligence.”

When the Brownlow’s no-suspension edict was framed, it was evidently to rule out players who had engaged, even just once, in much more serious acts of violence – punches, elbows, forearms. In days of yore, footballers could be wiped out in what was deemed “a fair bump” and the umpire would call play on.

Thankfully, the sanitising of the game has eradicated most of the thuggery, and the AFL – ever conscious of concussion and the grassroots ecosystem – has cracked down on incidents that do not involve conscious attempts to cause harm. High bumps are particularly dangerous and must bring suspensions if, as the league decreed, the player chooses to bump.

When Chris Grant (Bulldogs) lost his Brownlow in 1997, it was for a round-arm that definitely warranted two weeks; where he was stiff was that it was the AFL’s then football boss, Ian Collins, who intervened to see him charged.

Corey McKernan of North Melbourne had been unlucky in 1996, when he tied with James Hird and Michael Voss, spending the night at home after a one-match ban for jumping on Geelong’s John Barnes.

These suspensions were for incidents more serious than Heeney’s. It will be fascinating to see how Heeney polls up to that point in round 17, and then subsequently. Therein lies another problem – could a player’s ineligibility skew future votes?

Heeney isn’t an unfair player. Patrick Cripps isn’t an unfair player, yet – on a comparative basis – is fortunate to have retained his Brownlow given his collision with Callum Ah Chee in 2022.

If the rules are not amended – and either one-game bans no longer disqualifying, or the prohibition on suspensions removed altogether – then we will be seeing more players unfairly removed from the Brownlow starting gate.

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