WANT to hear the final word from Grand Final coaches Matthew Clarke and Mick Stinear?
Credit to the Girls podcast has you covered, with exclusive interviews with both coaches ahead of Saturday's decider.
Clarke was particularly vocal about the AFL Tribunal's decision to uphold the MRO's one-match suspension of Montana McKinnon's high bump on Kiara Bowers.
The Crows attempted to argue the impact was low, rather than the graded medium, but the AFL's new rule around potential to cause injury was a deciding factor.
"We were bitterly disappointed by the decision – not the decision, to be honest, probably the system and the process by which, over the last two games (including Eloise Jones' failed bid at Tribunal) some of our young players have been denied the opportunity to play in really big games," Clarke said.
"Not on the outcome of incidents they were involved in, but on the potential, so to my mind, that's a really subjective assessment, and the grading of those instances is similarly subjective.
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"For the people charged with making those decisions, it's almost an impossible task, because they're not measuring what actually did happen, they're being asked to project and speculate and ultimately – I don't know what factors they're using to make those determinations to be honest.
"We find that system challenging, and therefore ultimately frustrating. When you line up the instances against others, you then go, 'what is different there?' And that's caused some frustration. But in the end, we sign up to the rules, so we have to comply with them."
EPISODE GUIDE
1.10 – Adelaide coach Matthew Clarke joins the show
2.50 – Midfield battle v rebound game
7.10 – The future of Erin Phillips
9.10 – Montana McKinnon's suspension and Clarke's issue with the new "potential to cause injury" MRO rule
12.05 – Melbourne coach Mick Stinear is our next guest
16.49 – The partnership of Tayla Harris and Daisy Pearce
20.13 – The progression of the Melbourne football club
23.23 – The keys to the Grand Final
27.23 – Harris' unusual Grand Final record
29.29 – The Crows' selection dilemma
33.18 – Our predictions
