Limavady's Callum Brown has been making a name for himself in the AFL these past few seasons. The former Derry U20 All-Ireland winner in 2018 has been delivering on his huge potential in a Greater Western Sydney Giants team that had won six of their first seven games in the 2024 AFL season before this weekend.
Brown brought his brilliant form to today's Sydney derby as the the Giants met table-toppers Sydney Swans at the SCG. He claimed a mark and kicked a goal in the early phases of the match. However it was a second quarter challenge on Sydney defender Tom McCartin that has Brown in the public eye, and facing a likely ban.
Brown and McCartin were chasing down a 50/50 ball. The ball bounced backwards into the path of the Sydney player, causing McCartin to slow down and bend his knees, Brown, unable to stop his momentum, caught him with a forearm to the head.
Tom McCartin received a free kick following this incident involving Callum Brown.#AFLSwansGiants pic.twitter.com/B6WtxT1OQc
— AFL (@AFL) May 4, 2024
A free was given, however McCartin was unable to take it. He would fail an HIA and be subbed off. It's clear from the slo-motion replay from a reverse angle that there was no malice involved, but the AFL having been cracking down on head tackles, and a few journalists believed that Brown would face a ban for the tackle, perhaps of three or four weeks.
McCartin has a history of head injuries, so many Swans fans were gutted to seem him leave the pitch. However there did seem to be some sympathy for Brown, who was caught in a very awkward position.
Pundit David King was quite critical of the incident on the live television commentary:
“No, that’s no good. You can’t brace like that and make that sort of contact anymore.
"He chooses to bump, at the end he chooses to bump."
“I know he’s coming at speed and he’s got some decisions to make, but the one outcome that he must prevent is contact with the head.”
David King is currently appealing for Callum Brown to recieve the death penalty #AFLSwansGiants pic.twitter.com/Grb7wJcgRW
— outbreezy (@outbreezyWC) May 4, 2024
“That’s a nasty hit,” his colleague Alastair Lynch added.
Both Brown and the Giants will be nervously anticipating the report from the MRO (match report official). It finished 14.14 (98) to 10.9 (69) to the Swans.
