Viney banned for two games for elbow into neck of Suns defender

Melbourne midfielder Jack Viney has been handed a two-match ban for serious misconduct after being found guilty of driving his elbow into the neck and throat of Suns defender Sam Collins.

Viney accepted the incident was “not a good look” for the game, but argued his actions were in self-defence, to prevent Collins from flipping him onto his back, and that he only made meaningful contact to Collins’ jaw, not the neck.

Jack Viney faced a serious misconduct charge at the tribunal on Tuesday night.Credit:Fox Footy

But after less than 10 minutes of deliberation, the jury made up of Paul Williams, Shane Wakelin and Wayne Henwood disagreed with Viney’s version of events, finding that the 146-gamer “made forceful, prolonged contact with his elbow” to Collins’ neck and throat region.

The two-match ban will see Viney miss his side’s upcoming clashes with West Coast and Adelaide. He will be free to return for the final-round blockbuster against fellow flag contenders Geelong.

Earlier in the night, there was some confusion about whether Viney had pleaded guilty to applying prolonged force to Collins’ neck or throat.

Defence barrister Adrian Anderson said Viney “made a decision to plead guilty ... based on the charge against him [of serious misconduct]” and not to prolonged force to the neck or throat.

But after a short break, Viney changed his plea to not guilty after the AFL elected to proceed with the charges of prolonged neck and throat contact.

The AFL’s legal counsel Jeff Gleeson had called for a two-game ban. “Applying full force pressure to a common neck is something that anyone reasonable would consider risky behaviour,” he said.

“Logic would tell you applying pressure for that long to the neck and throat carries a risk of injury.

“You’ll quickly recognise that [Viney’s argument that] this was a defensive move, you’ll reject it as nonsense.”

But Anderson argued that one-game bans for serious misconduct from Hawthorn pair James Sicily and Ben Stratton in recent seasons were worse offences than Viney’s.

Sicily, in 2018, was given one week for stomping on North Melbourne’s Shaun Atley, while in 2019, Stratton copped a match for repetitively pinching Orazio Fantasia. Anderson argued both those precedents involved premeditated acts, whereas Viney’s actions were in response to Collins.

Anderson also referenced a one-game ban to Jed Lamb for unnecessary contact to the eye region of St Kilda’s Jade Gresham in 2018, and a $500 fine to Charlie Dixon for misconduct against Stratton last year, submitting that Viney’s incident was in the range between Dixon and Lamb’s conduct.

Medical evidence provided from the Suns said Collins did not receive any medical treatment from the incident and was not going to miss training.

Demons midfielder Jack Viney will miss the next two matches.Credit:Getty Images

In his evidence, Viney said he could feel Collins “trying to roll me”.

“He was trying to wrestle me so I could feel a downward force. You can see his arm wrap around my shoulder and drag me back down on top of him,” Viney said.

“I got pulled down into that position where my forearm was down on his lower jaw. It doesn’t look terrific.”

Under cross-examination from Gleeson, Viney disagreed with the assertion that he was on Collins’ neck or throat.

“I don’t accept it’s going into his neck,” he said. “I understand it’s a very sensitive part of his body and any force going into that could produce injury.”

Gleeson responded: “You have him completely at his mercy.”

Viney later said: “I agree this was a poor look for the game.”

“[But] I do not feel like this was unsportsmanlike,” Viney added. “I acted in self-defence. I didn’t want an aggressive 99-kilogram key position player getting on top of me.”

Damien Ractliffe is the Chief Racing Reporter for The Age.

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