Former AFL umpires coach Hayden Kennedy has commented on the upcoming David Mackay Tribunal hearing, saying he appreciated all points of view when it came to the highly-contentious case.
The Adelaide midfielder was referred directly to the Tribunal after his head-high bump on St Kilda’s Hunter Clark, which left him with multiple jaw fractures.
Speaking on the incident, Kennedy said it was such a difficult case to judge that it could only be examined with the benefit of different camera angles and the collision being slowed down.
“I can see the whole range of decision making here,” he said on Sportsday.
“I’ve seen the live motion, from an umpires perspective you need to make a determination as to whether he’s got him high in a bumping motion or not.
“I also understand the AFL’s view as well, because (head-high contact) is a massive thing at the moment, it’s a really complex situation.
“I would want the umpires who were adjudicating that if there was a free kick there for high contact, he needed to pay it and obviously in normal motion he didn’t see that.
“It’s only until you get the different camera angles that you start to really look at it and decide whether it’s a report or not.
“It’s a really difficult one where us football people needs to work through and see what our game allows.”
The landmark case will be heard at the Tribunal on Thursday night, with the hearing to get underway at 5pm AEST.