Brisbane Lions Belle Dawes cleared by tribunal over hit on Hawthorn’s Ainslie Kemp, free for AFLW preliminary final
Brisbane Lions midfielder Belle Dawes is free to play in their AFLW preliminary final after having a one-game ban for charging dismissed by the tribunal.
Two-time premiership player Dawes was slapped with the suspension after charging front-on into Hawthorn’s Ainslie Kemp in the second quarter of their qualifying final win.
Kemp was cleared of a concussion but suffered cervical whiplash, with Dawes’ act graded as careless conduct, medium impact and high contact.
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Tribunal chair Renee Enbom, KC, acknowledged Dawes had limited options during the play.
“This charge has not been an easy one to decide,” Enbom said.
“The collision did involve a lot of force, and it’s uncomfortable to watch. However ... Ms Dawes had few options to minimise the collision that became inevitable.”
The Lions had argued that Dawes was not charging towards Kemp or careless in her actions, with the 23-year-old saying she had opted to tackle but was too close to Kemp to do so safely.
The midfielder instead instinctively jumped after realising head-to-head contact was imminent, and Kemp’s head collided into her chest.
“I didn’t want to hurt her,” Dawes said.
“My next move was to try to just get out of that situation.
“I didn’t realise I jumped at the time. I was just trying to get my head and my shoulders away from her.
“I didn’t want to get concussed either. I’ve had a few of them going in for the hard ball, so I was just trying to get away.
“You could say Craig (Starcevich, Brisbane coach) wouldn’t be happy because I didn’t complete the tackle, but I think in that instance I was just trying to get out of harm’s way for both of us.”
Dawes added she received support from Hawthorn player Eliza West after the incident.
“I was copping a bit of abuse from the crowd,” she said.
“I think she could tell I just didn’t really like copping that. She said, ‘it’s all good, no one thinks you’re a grub of that game’.”
The Lions will host a preliminary final against either Adelaide or Fremantle next week.
Hawthorn play Port Adelaide in a semi-final on Saturday.
Kemp is expected to be available for the Hawks after missing one training session this week.
