West Coast star Liam Ryan has thrown his support behind Brisbane Lions forward Charlie Cameron and has labelled some of the recent AFL tribunal decisions "ridiculous".
Cameron failed in his bid to overturn a three-match ban he received for a rough conduct charge against Ryan's West Coast teammate and co-captain Liam Duggan.
The AFL argued that the 30-year-old should have released Duggan from the tackle instead of taking him to ground, which caused the Eagles defender to be substituted off with a concussion.
However, despite his teammate being on the receiving end of the tackle, Ryan labelled it as 'accidental' when speaking on ABC Radio.
"(The Cameron tackle) was fair – obviously sad for 'Duggo' (Liam Duggan) – but Charlie just accidentally headbutted him in the tackle," Ryan said.
"It's going to turn out like you can't tackle no more.
"All his force was going forward and he just clipped Duggo on the chin."
Ryan was one of many people in the football community who have spoken out against the AFL tribunal's recent decisions, including the three-match ban Greater Western Sydney's Toby Bedford received for a rough conduct charge against Richmond's Tim Taranto.
"All you can do is just laugh because the decisions they make about tackling and all that stuff is just ridiculous," Ryan said.
"Toby Bedford's (suspension) three weeks for that? ...You can't say nothing when decisions are made already, just got to sit back and just laugh at the decisions they make."
Duggan is set to miss at least the Eagles' match this weekend against St Kilda – having entered the AFL's concussion protocols – with a more accurate timeline set to be determined at a later date.
Ryan celebrated his 100th AFL game during the Brisbane match and put forward a season-best performance, collecting 21 disposals and kicking two goals.
He had a team-high ten score involvements and gained 480 metres, which was second only to Tim Kelly.
The Yamatji man's comments regarding recent tribunal interpretations have echoed those from a chorus of notable football identities have also spoken out defending both Cameron and Bedford.
Geelong champion Joel Selwood said on Channel 7 said the Giants player's action was something we had seen 'many times before'.
"It's a tackle we've seen so many times before, that forward motion and it lands in a severe case because there's a concussion," Selwood remarked.
"So we think about heading into a prelim final weekend – if that was to miss a grand final, I don't think it sits well with any football lover."
