The grub Groat explained how he never menat to hurt anybody, guv, but he felt someone pull his shirt and he needed to get back to the defensive line like pronto. So urgent was this need that he thought "shall I push away the player who has hold of my shirt so that I can retire to the defensive line?" He dismissed this option, as apparently, to push the player off in such a way would somehow mean that no, he wouldn't get back to the defensive line quickly enough. Instead, his decision was that lashing out with his elbow would work quicker, and thus get him back in the defensive line with the desired alacrity.
But he never intended to elbow anybody, though.
Confused? Me too. A push stands a good chance of effecting a release. But a wild swing with the elbow would be quicker? Would it? How? if I push a player away, he may break his grip on my shirt. If I elbow him, though, he is unlikely to. Not unless I actually cause him serious pain, so much so, that he involuntarily lets go. So to me, his weaselly admission in fact serves to confirm that he hoped to cause serious pain with his elbow, otherwise it would be a pointless choice.
But nobody in the disciplinary seems to have worked this out.
It'll never happen, but really, in a case as clear cut as this, the offender should have to sit out as many games as the player he puts out of the game, if that is longer than his primary ban. Maybe then Groat might feel it was not worth saving a split second in his journey time if he risked putting himself out of the game for a few months, even if he wasn't bothered about taking the risk of crocking a fellow professional. And it would be only fair.
