Jeremy Cameron hit on Harris Andrews will reignite the red-card debate in AFL football

RED card for heavy hits in Australian football? Here is another moment to test the umpires - and technology.

AFL debate on a red card will start again after the weekend’s heavy hit from GWS forward Jeremy Cameron and Brisbane defender Harris Andrews put the Lions full back out of the game after just 11 minutes. Picture: Jono Searle (Getty Images)

JEREMY Cameron is going to the AFL tribunal. This is certain.

Greater Western Sydney’s weak pulse for a late charge to the AFL top-eight finals will collapse as the Giants’ most-potent forward spends a month on the sidelines. This is certain.

And the debate on the need for a red card in AFL games - with immediate send-offs for brutal moments such as Cameron’s jarring hit on Brisbane defender Harris Andrews - will be rekindled. This is certain too.

More so when Lions coach Chris Fagan noted the damage done to his team’s prospects on losing Andrews after just 11 minutes after being crunched in a marking contest at the Gabba.

“It disadvantaged us quite a bit; Harris is probably the best key defender going around at the moment and he started the game pretty well,’’ Fagan said.

AFL football boss Steve Hocking has a new (or rather recycled) agenda item when his think tanks meet next month for another grand debate on where to take Australian football in 2019 and beyond.

Red cards would test field umpires at a time when AFL match officials are reluctant to make calls on scores, preferring to go to the 11th umpire in the video booth in the grandstand.

As each of the nine AFL games at the weekend are captured by at least 15 cameras each weekend, Australian football could follow the world game with the VAR (video assisted referee) system.

As the stretcher is being taken to the field to carry the battered AFL player for a hospital visit, the four field umpires could gather before a television monitor to watch the video evidence. They could be the four-man jury, sparing AFL match review officer Michael Christian of his turmoil in deciding if an incident was intentional or careless or reckless.

Instant justice. The AFL could probably find a sponsor for the on-field court room.

What if, responds Fagan.

“If an umpire makes a mistake and a big final is lost because of it? It’s a real tough issue,” Fagan said. “How long have we been playing (Australian football) ...100-odd years without a red card system? I don’t think we need a red card system.”

The 160-year-old Australian game also has been played without “starting positions” - a theme Hocking’s think tanks are putting on the agenda for next season. The game constantly evolves.