Geelong premiership skipper Cameron Ling has launched a blistering attack on Lindsay Thomas, labelling the Port Adelaide forward’s hit on Scott Selwood “a dog act”.
Thomas faces suspension after he was reported for rough conduct over a heavy and high hit on Selwood during the Power’s 34-point loss to the Cats at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.
Selwood was knocked out of the game with a concussion following the ugly second-quarter incident.
“Lindsay Thomas’ act was nowhere near courageous – it was cheap,” Ling said on 3AW radio on Sunday.
“I know you can bump in a game of football.
“(But) that bump that Lindsay Thomas executed last night is illegal, is outlawed from the game and has been outlawed since Michael Long bumped Troy Simmons in the 2000 grand final.
“When a player is down in the act of picking up the football and the bumper is coming front-on at him and just decides to bump him in the head straight-on … that’s the one that could put a bloke in hospital, could potentially break his neck and cause quadriplegia.
“That one, for me, is as outlawed and as cheap a shot as you can take on a footy field … that was a dog act.”
Under new guidelines this season, Thomas will receive a two-week ban if the incident is classified as careless conduct with high impact to the head.
AFL match review officer Michael Christian saying a properly executed bump, with no head-high contact, is still allowed.
Thomas’ case could be sent straight to the AFL Tribunal if Christian deems it intentional conduct.
Ling said Thomas’ actions had no place on a footy field given the potential to cause severe injury.
“I want to clarify, ‘dog act’ is a big call and might be going a little far but if Scott Selwood had broken his neck last night we would be screaming about this type of bump,” he said.
“The outcome could have been really bad so therefore if we’re talking about judging something on the act and not on the outcome … that’s as bad as you can do on a footy field.”
Power coach Ken Hinkley said the collision was “ferocious” but unintentional.
“No player goes out there deliberately to try and cause things to go wrong but in a contact sport, they do happen that way,” Hinkley said.
“From our point of view, Lindsay was trying to do the right thing.”