The Bombers, who meet Port Adelaide in a knockout semi-final at AAMI Stadium this Saturday night, will be without their best defender for the rest of the season, unless they progress to the grand final.
Fletcher missed the corresponding game last season – a semi-final against Port Adelaide - after being suspended for two weeks for making unnecessary leg contact with West Coast’s Chris Judd. It is his third suspension for striking in the last four seasons.
The appeal board re-heard the case that was submitted to the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday night, but chairman Peter O’Callaghan said his panel found no reason to overturn the guilty verdict or the two-week suspension.
A clearly disappointed Essendon chief executive Peter Jackson suggested after the hour-and-a-half long hearing that the club was privately riling over the severity of the suspension.
“I think there’s been a lot of public debate over the last 48 hours, or 24 hours, which I think has been favourable to Dustin. As you know, I’m not allowed to comment on tribunal decisions or I’ll get into trouble. So perhaps I’ll let you guys make the decisions about the relativity of penalties imposed,” Jackson said after the hearing.
As he had done on Tuesday night, Fletcher argued that his open hand contact with Hayden’s face was resultant of an attempt to contest the ball, rather than a malicious act. Hayden said Fletcher’s contact was ‘more of a pushing action’ that did not inconvenience him.
Aaron Hamill is the only player to lodge a successful appeal during a finals series, after he was permitted to play for Carlton in the 1999 grand final.
Essendon is obliged to pay $15,000 for the appeal sitting, while successful applicants are reimbursed half of the fee.
Each of reporting umpire Matthew James, Docker Hayden, Fletcher, player advocate Ian Findlay and reporting officer John Coburn re-told their evidence for the three-man appeals panel. The appealing party is not permitted to present any new evidence in the hearing.
Player advocate Findlay told the appeal board Hayden was an especially difficult opponent for Fletcher to cover because he is Aboriginal.
“As we all know, the Aboriginal people are very fleeting of foot,” Findlay said on Wednesday night.
It was a sentiment shared with Essendon assistant coach Mark Harvey, who briefly discussed the Fletcher case at a media conference earlier in the day.
“You’ve got to understand that Aboriginal players are very hard to tackle at the best of times, and I think that’s what presented Dustin with the indecision,” Harvey said.
Before the hearing on Wednesday, Essendon spearhead Matthew Lloyd said he was confident his side could progress through the next fortnight of finals even without its chief backman.
“Even without ‘Fletch’ I still think we’re in the best situation we ever have been to beat them out of the last four (meetings). I’ve got no doubt we can,” Lloyd said.
“He’s as close to being a goalkeeper in football as you can get. His arms and legs are great, except on a few occasions, which we’ve found this week.”
Essendon will reshuffle its backline in an attempt to cover the loss of Fletcher. Bomber coach Kevin Sheedy said Mark Bolton, Scott Lucas and Danny Jacobs were all capable of playing on Port Adelaide’s All-Australian centre-half-forward Warren Tredrea.
