The AFL’s appeal to challenge the severity of Giants star Toby Greene’s three-match suspension for making intentional umpire contact to Matt Stevic in the elimination final will be held next Thursday, October 7.

The tribunal found that Greene’s contact was intentional and his action was “aggressive, disrespectful, and demonstrative” before handing him the three-game ban which would have seen him miss the grand final had the Giants made it that far.

The AFL’s legal counsel and interim football operations manager Andrew Dillon lodged an appeal to be heard by the AFL Appeals board on the basis the sanction imposed was manifestly inadequate. The AFL agreed to the Giants’ request for the matter to be deferred until the end of the finals series.

In the end, Greene served one match of the suspension when he missed the Giants’ semi-final loss to Geelong and will head into the appeal with a ban that would force him to miss the opening two rounds of the 2022 season.

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Greene apologised to his teammates before the semi-final, and umpire Stevic, who eventually umpired last Saturday’s 2021 grand final.

He is not expected to be required at the hearing with the AFL’s tribunal counsel Jeff Gleeson and the Giants’ legal representative Ben Ihle likely to represent each party’s position.

Greene finished second to Josh Kelly in the Giants’ best-and-fairest award on Thursday after Kelly polled 17 votes in the finals. The pair were tied at the end of the home-and-away season.

The 28-year-old Greene, who captained the club in Stephen Coniglio’s absence for most of 2021, is considered one of the game’s best players, however he has repeatedly been reported for on-field incidents.

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