North,via barrister Rob O’Neill,tendered evidence of Laird’s rotations from earlier in the season to show the time he spent off the ground following the collision was “for a short time and a typical time.”
However AFL lawyer Andrew Woods said the fact there had been no injury did not determine impact. He said there was an “immediate and hard” impact on Laird and that “the extent of force was more than low.”
Woods added that the manner in which Cunnington connected with Laird had the potential to cause injury.
As part of the defence,O’Neill showed the jury of Richard Loveridge,Jason Johnson,Shane Wakelin footage from a 2020 incident in which Port Adelaide’s Zak Butters collected St Kilda’s Paddy Ryder,who had clutched at his head following that hit. O’Neill said that if anything that was a more serious incident than the Cunnington-Laird one and yet was still only deemed low impact.
But Woods sought to distinguish that incident,saying it was very different to the one at hand.