Green undecided on future
Veteran Brad Green says he has yet to make a decision on whether he will play on in 2013
NORTH Melbourne's Jack Ziebell was unlucky to be suspended for four weeks for rough conduct, says Melbourne veteran Brad Green.
While Green said there was no confusion about what players can and can't do on the football field, he added his voice to those who think the penalty was heavy.
"Any contact to the head is certainly going to be looked at, but yeah, he is stiff I think, that is all I can say, he is stiff to get four weeks for that," Green said.
Green, an ambassador for the Victorian Women's Football League, was asked about Friday night's incident, where Ziebell made contact with Carlton's Aaron Joseph while contesting a high ball, during a media conference held to promote the AFL's Women's Round.
The 30-year-old Green made a welcome return to the senior team last week after a season interrupted with injury and form battles. He kicked three goals against Fremantle in a very solid performance.
Due to play his 250th game in round 18, he said he is yet to make a decision as to whether he would play on in 2013.
"I think over the next three to four weeks, or eight weeks, we will sit back and discuss that, but it is nice to be back in the side at the moment," Green said.
"That is all I've really been focusing on."
Green, who has kicked just five goals in seven games in 2012, admitted he had had an indifferent year on the field but he was determined to finish off the season well.
While he joked that he wasn't getting any younger and said the team's lack of on-field success this season made it harder for him to get up each week, he said the spirit among the group remained strong.
"If you are in a winning side and you are winning games of footy, its amazing how good the body feels," Green said.
"The ice doesn't feel as cold and the strapping that you are chucking on, you don't mind, and you are getting some excitement around the place, but our young boys, to their credit, all year… they are a pretty up and about group and it's a great thing for our club. You don't see too many guys go 'poor bugger me'. They are out there striving to get better which is great."
Green said the news his friend Cameron Bruce - who began his career with Melbourne at the same time as Green and played 224 games for the Demons - had decided to retire was a reminder to everyone how quickly time passes but would have no influence on his own considerations about his future.
"You feel for anyone that is going out of the game…when it is time to give up it is certainly sad but everyone comes to an end [and] it's going to come to an end pretty soon for me," he said.
Green, who played nine finals, including a Grand Final, between 2000 and 2006 reflected on the fact he has been part of a club that has not played finals for six seasons.
But he said the lesson from that was clear: "Playing finals doesn't come easy. You have got to work hard and it takes a lot of hard work to get there," he said.
Having shown great resilience to overcome injury and form to be part of the senior team, Green admitted he had spoken to Brent Moloney, who was demoted to the VFL last week.
"It's just about going back there [to the VFL], working hard, copping a whack on the chin and doing the best you can," Green said.