Send-off rule would add dangerous level of uncertainty to AFL football, says Michelangelo Rucci

TOM Jonas’s clash with Eagle Andrew Gaff has reignited debate about whether the AFL needs a send-off rule, similar to football, writes Michelangelo Rucci.

Tom Jonas comes in to make a big hit on Andrew Gaff. Picture: Mark Brake

THANK heavens West Coast won. And Richmond, in an AFL round that brings into question the need for a send-off rule in Australian football.

Had the Eagles failed at Adelaide Oval — while Andrew Gaff counted stars in the changerooms after being put on a stretcher by Port Adelaide defender Tom Jonas in the third term — the case for a send-off rule once a player is reported on the field would be tormenting AFL football chief Mark Evans today.

Why should the innocent Eagles be punished with one less on the field while Jonas pays no immediately penalty — and waits for the AFL tribunal to deliver an inevitable ban?

Fremantle defender Zac Dawson was reported in the third term at Subiaco Oval in Perth on Saturday night for a late open-arm hit in a marking contest with Richmond switch-hitter Steven Morris.

In contrast to Gaff, Morris was not put on a stretcher, he took his kick with a 50m penalty and scored a goal.

But Dawson’s report was sent to the AFL match review panel — while many pundits reviewing the video, frame by frame, have questioned the merit of the booking.

The problem with the send-off rule — and not just in Australian football, but also the sports that have red cards — is that umpires make mistakes.

And games should not be influenced by umpires inappropriately sending players to sin bins.

The English Premier League in the recently closed season (made famous by Leicester City’s win against the 5000/1 odds) repeatedly had the Football Association rescind red cards where its disciplinary committee felt a referee had made “clear and obvious mistake”.

There is the relief that a player is not inappropriately suspended but there is no compensation for playing a game one short.

Where does the send-off rule apply in the AFL? On every report?

With Jonas, the send-off rule is easy to justify — as it would have been with Gold Coast defender Steven May’s callous bump of Brisbane ruckman Stefan Martin in the Q-Clash at the Gabba on Saturday, April 16 (a report that led to a five-game ban from the AFL tribunal).

In these cases, the Eagles and Lions were forced to play one short — and both teams won the game to dismiss the case that West Coast and Brisbane were handicapped after unsavoury incidents on the field.

But the send-off campaign is not made stronger by Dawson’s report — nor with Port Adelaide midfielder Robbie Gray at Adelaide Oval on Saturday when he was booked for tripping.

Both incidents did not lead to an opponent being taken off the field and an opposition team being denied a win after being overly restricted by having a player on a stretcher or on the way to hospital.

And what of the case that dominated the headlines in 2014 when Melbourne novice Jack Viney broke Adelaide forward Tom Lynch’s jaw during a contentious bump at the Oval, was banned for two games and then cleared by the AFL Appeals Board?

Beyond the AFL, the send-off rule has emerged in varying forms in State leagues and community football.

In the SANFL it has been used to immediately punish players who have multiple reports in a match. An umpire may make a mistake with one report, but if there is a second booking the scales of justice are probably leaning against the player for good reason.

A send-off rule in the AFL is not a popular concept with the fans, as measured with a 2:1 vote against the concept in Radio 3AW’s poll at the weekend when the Jonas report was debated.

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