Billy Frampton, June 10 -- Brody Mihocek will not play football again this year. His neck is fractured, his surgery done, his season finished. And the man whose tackle put him on a stretcher at the MCG last Monday walked out of the AFL Tribunal on Wednesday night without a suspension.

when a tackled player's own momentum transforms a controlled act into something catastrophic, who bears responsibility? The three-person Tribunal, led by chairman Jeff Gleeson, came down firmly on Frampton's side.

The verdict matters beyond this case. It establishes that under current AFL rules, the conduct of the tackled player - not just the tackler - is a legitimate factor in assessing carelessness. That reading, applied to one of the most distressing o...