Jess Sinclair You are a weak ...........

[Bones]

After seeing the damage to Piccione's face, 10 weeks.

[MR_Philby]

If you can all cast your memory back, there was a similar incudent around this time last year involving Mark Bickley when he raised his elbow and Broke Darryl Wakelins cheek bone........

Now Bickley did the same thing as Jess after the game and came out and apologised for his out of character actions on the field. Bickley after his apology said exclusively to the news that he was NOT going to fight the charge and he was prepared to cop any punishment dished out by the AFL Tribunal, he got 5 weeks for this actions (even though i would have loved to have seen a longer suspension).......

As I believe Jess stated on Monday that he was going to plead GUILTY and accept the suspension that the Tribunal give him. There is not that much difference between both of these incidents. Yes they are both UGLY and are not in the spirit of the game, both men are good footballers & they had fairly clean records before their incidents, they didnt think of what sort of damage they could have done in the split seconds before their actions & they were both sincerely sorry and ASHAMED of what they did. I dont think any professional athlete wants something like that to be what they are remembered for (dirty mongrels from what some members have refered him to).......

Yes Jess will and deserves to get a suspension because it was WRONG plain and simple & my prediction is that he will get 5 weeks just like Bickley did last year.........

[Culprit]

Talk about hang him before the trial. All right all you do gooders. His action with the elbow was reckless. It was not premeditated; he did not plan to take out Lance. Lance was they’re doing the shepherding for his teammate. What the hell is Jess supposes to do? Stop? Say ok I will stop chasing? He kept going and with his frustration at watching the game fall out of his team’s hands he jumped and went through with the elbow. Don’t watch the slow mo replay; watch it in real time and do you honestly think Jess actually had time to think about his actions?

I hear commentators scream blue murder; the same commentators we have all seen do the same thing 20 years earlier without trial by video. The same commentators saying this will discourage parents from having their kids playing football. Get a grip people it's a contact sport, if you don't want contact don't play it. His actions were reckless and his body language and his demeanour shows you how remorseful he is. He will plead guilty, he will get 4-6 weeks and he will play again and so will Lance and all will be forgotten in a few weeks. This does not happen everyday of the week and while Lance looks like a train ran over him and then reversed up to do a better Job he has also stated there is no hard feelings because Jess phoned him to apologize and will do the same at the tribunal tonight. Lance knows it was not a deliberate act as do I. Jess will pay for his misdemeanour but don't hang the kid before his trial.

As for declaring him guilty before the trial, two weeks ago the media did the same to Fletcher and he was found not guilty. As for Schwab coming out condemning Jess, the AFL should fine him for making such comments before a player is charged or found guilty should fine him.

8 umpires did not report Jess that is what annoys me out of this whole incident. One was standing not ten feet away looking straight at it.

So condemn me if you like, I am one for innocent before being found guilty.

[Greg J]

He should never have left the ground. Once he jumped the elbow flew up and if Lance did not get out the way, he was always going to get cleaned up.

It was reckless, but I do not think it was premeditated (but that is just my opinion). Unlike the Bickley incident where he stated it was premeditated (but I wonder to what degree).

Anyway being reckless will nto save him. I reckon four weeks as he has been a good boy in the past.

[stik35]

Culprit, as Jess has said he is going to plead guilty, I don't see how anyone could possibly presume him innocent.

He has also apologised for his actions.

[Trippy Pie]

What Sinclair did was stupid but who out there who has played the game, at any level, has not done something they regret.

People have brought up the fact that he was off the ground at the time. I believe both players feet were off the ground at the time of the clash and from memory Picconi was the first to leap. Perhaps Sinclair saw this and acted in an attacking manner. If I am wrong on this fact please accept my appology.

This is not a defence of what Sinclair did as there is no excuse for this type of action on the field or in real life.

[Donny]

Excellent post, Culprit.

I'm surprised how little has been written about the other incident from the same game. To me, it looked worse. More deliberate.

Incidentally, Bickley's hit on Wakelin was one of the worst I've ever seen and he only got 5 weeks.

Using that incident as a yardstick, Stevens should get 4 and Sinclair, 3.

[ConBigWig]

Fight by the sword die by the sword.
Lance is by no means an angel. He doesn't mind throwing out the occasional elbow either. Like he said in the interview, all is forgiven and forgotten. So tell me why is everyone kicking up a fuss?

[Joe]

[CQ]

i dont think its a matter of not being bothered, more like you really cant admit that youve contradicted yourself.

[Pied Piper]

I agree with Donny. Anthony Stevens' hit on Holland was well behind the play, a roundhouse swing with obvious intent to maim, and could have caused an injury as serious as that suffered by Lance Picioane. Similar hits in rugby cause no end of concussions and occasional broken jaws.

I don't know what got into Stevens in that game; watch him hurtle around and he is the definition of recklessness. But the hit on Holland was beyond reckless. If he doesn't get four weeks something's wrong - players get outed for two for incredibly minor infractions by comparison.

I still think Sinclair will get more, for the severity of the injury caused, and I have no problem with that, whether intent was there or not. I think the Mark Bickley incident is a good comparison, and I was more shocked by Bickley's plainly intentional strike (as he later admitted). I thought five weeks was lenient in that instance.

Whereas this incident happened so fast, in a split second's play. But still worth four-six weeks IMO.

The Weed

[CQ]

[CQ]

sinclair got 5

[Pied Piper]

5 for Sinclair I can live with. 2 for Stevens is disgraceful.

[The Prototype]

Stevens 2 weeks
Sinclair 5 weeks, sounds fair enough.