James Hird's sad truth for AFL fans amid fury over tribunal's Paul Curtis call
James Hird believes the AFL Tribunal's controversial decision to uphold the three-game ban for North Melbourne's Paul Curtis proves the game is moving towards a zero tolerance policy when it comes to concussions and bans will be inevitable when such incidents occur. Curtis failed to overturn his suspension for rough conduct on Tuesday night after the tribunal ruled the tackle which concussed Port Adelaide's Josh Sinn was unreasonably dangerous.
Sinn was concussed when his head hit the ground during the second quarter incident in the Power's nine-point win. AFL counsel Sally Flynn said the Curtis tackle was unreasonable because it pinned Sinn's arms and contributed to the concussion.
"He (Sinn) really had no opportunity to be able to brace," Flynn told the hearing. She maintained the severe impact of the tackle also had to be weighed in to the penalty. "Sinn was visibly affected by his head hitting the ground ... the impact should be classified as severe," Flynn said.
Curtis' counsel Justin Graham KC argued the 22-year-old Roo stopped and dropped his weight, with his knees to the side of Sinn during the tackle. "Joshua's knees then plug into the turf ... (it) causes them to lunge forward and Joshua's head makes forceful contact with the ground," Graham said. There was no slinging and there was no driving motion involved."
"Where we're at at the moment is not the solution... it's driving us all mad."Jimmy Bartel fears for where the game is at right now after Paul Curtis' three-match ban.#9FootyFurnace | Watch on Nine & 9Now 🖥️ pic.twitter.com/1lEgOnySLA
— Footy on Nine (@FootyonNine) April 27, 2025
Graham contested the grading of impact as severe, adding there was "no rough conduct because the tackle was not unreasonable in the circumstance". The tribunal panel Jeff Gleeson, Paul Williams and David Neitz deliberated for around 30 minutes before returning their verdict.
"Curtis did not need to propel Sinn forward with such force," Gleeson said. "Curtis could have, but did not, make a significant attempt to roll to the side. Prudent players are today well aware that tackling a player from behind when both the tackler and the ball carrier have some momentum carries a risk of causing a concussion if care is not taken to avoid or minimise that risk. Curtis did not do nearly enough to address that risk."
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The incident and the three-game ban for Curtis has led to widespread criticism around the AFL world, with former Kangaroos great former Kangaroos chairman James Brayshaw calling it an 'embarrassing' decision from the tribunal. 'What else was (Curtis) meant to do,'' Brayshaw said on Triple M's Rush Hour. 'When you look at the vision of it, the outcome no one wants ever, but it's a contact sport and accidents are going to happen on a football field."
Eddie McGuire also labelled the saga a "disaster" and argued that Curtis was punished for what was effectively a standard tackle. Speaking on Nine's Footy Classified, the former Collingwood president showed a clip of the incident that showed how little time Curtis had to satisfy the guidelines for a safe tackle.
"That is less than one-third of a second from when Curtis tackled him, till they got to the ground where he was supposed to roll, pull himself back, not propel and let go of his arms." AFL great Rory Sloane added: "To think about all that during a tackle in a game is impossible. You won't get any arguments from a player saying that's ridiculous that it's three weeks."
"That is less than one-third of a second!" 😳The vision that shows the game may be asking too much of players, as the panel reacts to Paul Curtis' 'ridiculous' three-match ban being upheld.#9FootyClassified | Watch on Nine & 9Now 🖥️ pic.twitter.com/VbFVg3XoBm
— Footy on Nine (@FootyonNine) April 29, 2025
And Hird claimed the sad truth stemming from the Curtis saga is that players will unlikely never escape suspension anymore, if their actions result in concussions for opposition players. "It's all about the concussions, it's all about the legal cases going forward and it will get to the point I think where if you concuss a player through your actions, you're out for three weeks no matter what," Hird said.
"Except the spectacular high mark... I think they've basically moved to the point that if a player gets concussed because of your actions there's three weeks. If that's where they're going then just make it a point, 'that's where we're going'."
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