Murphy unimpressed with big Dog's AFL ban

Aug 15, 2017 - 5:00 PM The AFL tribunal suspended Jack Redpath for three matches on Tuesday night and Western Bulldogs skipper Bob Murphy isn't happy.

Redpath was charged with striking Greater Western Sydney's Phil Davis during the Giants' 48-point win on Friday night and could have accepted a two-game ban with an early plea.

At first glance there didn't look to be much in the exchange between the pair.

Davis doubled over clutching his neck after the second-quarter incident at Etihad Stadium, but he didn't leave the ground and a GWS medical report stated he did not need ongoing treatment.

Bulldogs legal counsel Rob Stary argued Redpath's open-handed blow - which he characterised as a push - was careless, not intentional, and to Davis's upper chest rather than his neck.

But the jury - consisting of Richard Loveridge, Paul Williams and Stewart Loewe - took 15 minutes to return a guilty verdict.

Murphy, who announced his retirement on Tuesday, feels the AFL's crackdown on players punching each other - however gentle the impact - has gone too far.

"There's a big difference between someone throwing a punch and two big key (position players) pushing and shoving and asserting their presence in the game," Murphy told Fox Footy's AFL 360.

"Sometimes a hand slips off a shoulder into someone's neck - I think there's a chasm between that and a clenched fist and 'I'm going to drop one on your chin'."

The finding means Redpath will miss the last two rounds of the 2017 home-and-away season and either the Bulldogs' first final or round one of next season depending on where Luke Beveridge's side finishes on the ladder.

"I'm a little bit disappointed ... obviously we came here thinking we had a good case," Redpath told reporters as he left the hour-long hearing at AFL House.

"But it wasn't to be."

Source: AAP