The AFL wishes to advise that General Manager Football Operations Andrew Dillon today notified the AFL Appeal Board and the GWS GIANTS Football Club that the AFL would appeal the three-game suspension imposed on GWS GIANTS’ Toby Greene for Intentional Umpire Contact against Umpire Matt Stevic during the third quarter of the Elimination Final between the Sydney Swans and GWS GIANTS, played at UTAS Stadium on Saturday August 28, 2021.

The AFL Tribunal found that Greene’s contact with the umpire was intentional and that it was also aggressive, disrespectful, and demonstrative.

On that basis, Mr. Dillon said the AFL had appealed the three-game suspension on the ground that the sanction imposed was manifestly inadequate.

   Mr. Dillon reinforced that respect for umpires and the safety of umpires in our game is what our sport is built on and must be protected. As the keeper of the code, the AFL has a responsibility to act in the interests of all in the sport.

At GWS’s request, the AFL has agreed to defer the hearing of the appeal until after the end of the 2021 Toyota AFL Finals Series. In agreeing to this request, the AFL acknowledges that GWS will not appeal the suspension already imposed on Greene (which rules him out of any further participation in the 2021 Toyota AFL Finals Series) and the travel and quarantine arrangements that GWS is presently subject to which complicates their ability to participate in the forthcoming appeal.