Never has a $20 transaction created such uproar and discussion amongst the AFL community.

On Friday afternoon, Collingwood’s Heath Shaw and Nick Maxwell were punished for their involvement in separate bets placed on an AFL match involving their own team.

In brief, Shaw’s punishment was ruthless and necessary. Maxwell’s was plain unnecessary.

Maxwell, normally a defender, was told by coach Michael Malthouse in the lead up to the Magpies’ Round 9 clash with Adelaide earlier this season that he was going start in the forward line, in an attempt to throw the Crows off their game.

What followed was mind-blowing – particularly when it came to Shaw.

Both Maxwell and Shaw admitted to leaking the planned tactic to family and friends. And it got messy.

Shaw contributed $10 towards a $20 bet – instigated by his housemate – on Maxwell to kick the first goal of the Round 9 clash. At the time the bet was placed, Maxwell was priced at $101. For all those who struggled with maths during high school, that’s a return of $2020.

The AFL came down hard on Shaw – as it should’ve. He felt the full brunt of the AFL’s zero tolerance policy on player gambling and was subsequently suspended for eight matches and fined $20,000.

Harsh, but fair.

Shaw was completely naive at the time and should’ve known better. It was dumb – something he’s admitted in the aftermath of the punishment.

But here’s the perplexing part. On the same day Shaw was suspended, Maxwell was also penalised, despite never handing any money over to betting agencies

After hearing the information, members of Maxwell’s family placed three bets totally $85 on the Collingwood skipper to kick the first goal of the game. For that, Maxwell copped a $10,000 fine.

Harsh, and unfair.

Maxwell never encouraged his family to put money on himself to kick the first goal. He was never aware bets had even been made.

He never placed a bet himself. He never intended to gain any financial reward. Never.

In the end, it’s ‘only’ a $10,000 fine. That’s nothing for Maxwell, considering he’s the captain of the richest footy club in the country.

But this isn’t about the figure. Maxwell should never have had to pay a fine.

Yes he was a little reckless in providing his family with confidential ‘information’. But his only crime was not informing them the information he gave was not to be used for betting purposes. Not once did he encourage them to bet.

Shaw’s suspension and fine was fair. If the AFL wanted to show it was serious about stopping players from gambling on AFL matches, it simply had to suspend him.

But Maxwell’s fine was cruel. All he needed was a slap on the wrist, not a five-figure fine.

Perhaps the verbal attacks he received in the media over the past weekend were just as hurtful.

Some pundits questioned Maxwell’s reputation and leadership, with respected footy commentator Tim Lane leading the charge by questioning Maxwell’s character on 3AW. A portion of Pies supporters also voiced their opinion, calling for Maxwell to be stripped of the captaincy.

Those attacks were unwarranted, just like the fine.

Maxwell epitomises leadership, both on and off the field. He leads by both example and words. He’s one of the toughest and most selfless players in the league.

Yesterday on SEN radio, Herald Sun journalist Mark Robinson described the Collingwood captain as one of the most ‘honourable man’ he’d ever met in his life’.

Maxwell handled himself with pure class over the weekend. Despite the unfair penalty, he answered all questions honestly at a press conference on Friday and had the guts to appear on Channel 7’s Game Day on Sunday morning to face further heat. He also kept Carlton’s Bret Thornton to one goal from 11 touches during the Magpies’ 19-point win over the Blues on Saturday.

For the AFL, suspending Shaw and fining Maxwell was all about making a stand. Players know betting on their own sport, especially on their own team, is a cardinal sin. So Friday’s events hopefully reiterated the AFL’s strict anti-gambling viewpoint to all players and administrators: don’t gamble on footy – it’s not worth it.

As for Maxwell? Hopefully he’s learned a valuable lesson too about spreading confidential information at the dinner table.

However he didn’t need a $10,000 penalty to rub it in.

Ben Waterworth is a third-year Bachelor of Journalism student at La Trobe University and is upstart’s former sports editor. You can follow him on twitter: @bjwaterworth