AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon has declared the league is not contemplating introducing red cards, suggesting it would cause more problems than it would solve.
The debate re-entered the spotlight ahead of this weekend’s Opening Round following St Kilda veteran Jimmy Webster’s bump on North Melbourne captain Jy Simpkin in the first quarter of a practice match last weekend.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Andrew Dillon speaks on concussions and red cards.
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But while Webster was later banned for seven matches, another recent high-profile incident have shown why the AFL is hesitant.
Collingwood defender Brayden Maynard’s smother concussed Melbourne’s Angus Brayshaw in the first five minutes of a qualifying final last year but he went on to avoid a ban at the tribunal.
Though the AFL has since changed the rules to enforce a suspension for such collisions, the league will continue to only decide on a potential punishment after matches.
“We’ve got a pretty robust match review and tribunal system,” Dillon told Sunrise on Thursday morning.
“(Webster’s) received a seven-match suspension. We see that as a sufficient deterrent. So the red card’s not on our agenda at the moment.”
Asked by Nat Barr if that is fair, Dillon responded: “In a game the clubs have got substitutes and you can work that out, and you’ve also got interchange cap rotations.”
“We think that the system we’ve got in place with having the ability for the incidents to be assessed properly over a number of days, and then have a tribunal hearing where we can actually get the facts out is the way to go,” he continued.
But that stance was again questioned by Matt Shirvington.
“There are some times, though, those incidents where just up and down, every day of the week, you know it’s bad and has bad intent straight in the moment,” Shirvington said.
“Jy Simpkin goes out of the game. Is it not fair enough that you choose to send someone off in that moment?”
Dillon noted one key reason why the AFL send-offs are “not on the radar” for one key reason.
“What we’ve seen and we see it a number of times is that it’s really important for the process to play out,” he said.
“And it’s really hard to check the intent until you’ve spoken to both sides.”
The prospect of a sin bin, which features in the NRL alongside send-offs, was raised by Collingwood’s Mason Cox in the wake of Webster’s bump on Simpkin.
“Man this makes me cringe,” he wrote.
“Makes me think there should be a sin bin or some kind of in-game ramification for these things.”
Richmond premiership captain Trent Cotchin told 7NEWS Melbourne that he is “not against the idea” of a red card.
He did, however, raise the fair question that it is unclear who would be best placed to make the decision during games.
“I think the umpires have enough to worry about so it would be one extra thing they probably don’t need the responsibility for,” Cotchin said.
“But I suppose if the incident is serious enough to take someone out of the game it’s worth exploring.”
