Coach bypass over Johnson

Andrew Mathieson
GEELONG coach Mark Thompson approached AFL operations manager Adrian Anderson to plead Steve Johnson’s case against a striking charge on marked Saint Steve Baker.
But Thompson admitted Johnson would miss nearly his entire three-match ban with a broken right hand that Baker had allegedly targeted regardless of a guilty plea.
Thompson felt overlooking umpiring boss Jeff Gieschen in favour of conversing with the AFL’s second highest powerbroker would offer better protection to the club’s array of star players.
Baker was accused of drawing Johnson into a series of off-the-ball scuffles during the Cats’ 24-point loss to St Kilda on Friday night.
“I spoke to Adrian (on Monday) and I said that it was a bit hard that Stevie Baker was doing that and Steven Johnson had to accept it,” Thompson said.
“But, in the end, Steven has broken the rules, too, and we just have to live by that. Unfortunately, that’s what happened.
“We were just a little unsure about how (the tribunal hearing) would go if we had contested it, so we decided to accept the penalty.”
Baker, a former Geelong Falcon, had been charged with four separate charges carrying a 12-game suspension if he pleaded guilty.
The Saints tagger accepted just two penalties totalling five games but fought one of the three striking offences and an another for unreasonable and unnecessary contact with an injured player.
An unrepentant Thompson said Baker’s hefty suspension was a “good thing”.
“I think the message they’re trying to send is that they don’t want Steve Baker’s actions to be repeated by any player in the AFL because they were quite severe and that would be a good thing,” he said.
Thompson quashed conjecture this week that Johnson took an injured hand into the game, suggesting the mercurial Cat “picked it up fairly early”.
Johnson underwent surgery Sunday morning. The club expects him to miss a further two games.
Thompson said the rest would be in Johnson’s favour.
“He’s got sort of little problems everywhere,” he said.
“His body will heal, we’ll get a real fitness hit out of him and hopefully he’ll finish the season strongly.”
Thompson likened Cam Mooney’s strike on Jason Blake, which earned Mooney a two-game suspension, as indicative of Geelong’s performance.
But he promised the Cats would bounce back when they hosted North Melbourne on Sunday.
“We know where it went wrong – we went wrong everywhere,” Thompson said.
“History tells us we do rebound well but you still have to go out and do it.”
Thompson said Johnson and Mooney’s exit would have the Kangaroos “licking their lips” over the prospect of an upset victory.