THE SEND OFF RULE? AFL article (discussed also on SYN Radio Sports Desk 29/4)

Every level of Australian football has a send-off rule bar one – the AFL. The question is why?

It makes no sense at all that the peak league in the sport is the only one that does not allow umpires the option to send players from the field for blatant and wilful acts of violence.

This week I read a very interesting and thought provoking article from Glenn Mitchell (Roar) and he brought up a very valid point about bringing in a send off rule in the AFL as it seems to be the only sport without one.

Already traditions in the AFL have been challenged, the substitution rule which was ultimately ruled out, the ANZAC day concept game in New Zealand which was ultimately ruled out and a potential game in China is looming as possibility with Port Adelaide and Gold Coast to contest for the 4 points overseas. But radical rules such as the deliberate out of bounds have came under the spotlight this year, and whether the rule is consistent is questionable. But after Gold Coast’s Steven May was suspended for five weeks for a sickening charge on Brisbane’s Stefan Martin late in the second quarter at the Gabba there is serious concerns over the fairness and integrity of the game when it comes to crude bumps where a player is forced from the ground and the offender has the opportunity to play out the game. This becomes an issue as the substitution rule no longer exists and as a result the opposition will be playing one less player with a interchange tab. 

Glenn Mitchell explains the incident in great detail and expresses “no matter the level of intent and damage rendered to an opponent the match day punishment can never exceed a free-kick and 50-metre penalty” but no formal punishment from the umpires on the day, only reminding the offender that they are on report.

Mitchell reminds audiences of “one of the more blatant acts of disrepute in recent times on an AFL field was the felling of West Coast’s Brent Staker by Sydney’s Barry Hall at the SCG in 2008”. An incident that was horrific, Barry Hall knocking out Staker with his fist breaking his jaw and sending him to the ground unconscious. A blatant act like this in any other code would replicate into a red card and ultimately a direct sendoff from the ground, a complete suspension from the game and many more in future. 

“The rugby codes and soccer, along with many other team sports, have a send-off rule enshrined through all levels of their sport”. These rules explained by Mitchell are crucial to discouraging players for committing crude acts on other players in their respected sports, but AFL does not besides the consequences that transpire act on the incident at the moment it occurs. 

Mitchell contention is that “It is time the AFL did likewise”, meaning the AFL can finally discourage their players from injuring others and getting away with it within the game. The AFL needs to introduce this rule to create equality in numbers between each team and to punish the offender to make sure they don’t continue to infringe in the game. I remember watching St.Kilda v Brisbane in the mid-2000’s when a large Mal Michael targeted in a crude fashion a young Nick Riewoldt’s already injured shoulder. It ended Riewoldt’s night whilst bringing Riewoldt to tears of agony, whilst Michael asserted his brutality on other St.Kilda players in the forward line. Riewoldt leaving the ground didn’t discourage Michael as he continued to inflict pain on other players and other reason why the AFL as established by Mitchell needs to introduce this rule.

Mitchell concludes that “being sent from the ground and barred from returning for malicious acts at least provides some offset to the team that has lost a player as a result of a violent act”, it is only fair that the rule is introduced and if it prevents crude hits like the ones which have occurred in the past, the game will only be better for it.

Michael Serpell