AFL news: Sam Powell-Pepper four-game suspension sends a clear message to players – bump at your own risk

The AFL has sent a clear message to players on the eve of the 2024 season — bump and you risk missing a month of football. MATT TURNER analyses what the Sam Powell-Pepper verdict means.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JULY 13: Michael Hurley of the Bombers receives a heavy bump from Cameron Zurhaar of the Kangaroos during the 2019 AFL round 17 match between the Essendon Bombers and the North Melbourne Kangaroos at Marvel Stadium on July 13, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Sam Powell-Pepper’s four-game ban has set the tone for season 2024.

Expect larger penalties for players who make avoidable headhigh contact and concuss opponents.

The length of the Port Adelaide forward’s suspension is the longest for a bump since 2022.

Yet it is unsurprising given the AFL’s new tribunal guidelines.

The tribunal is no longer bound by a previous season’s decision and can take into account “evolving community standards and an increased focus on reducing instances of avoidable, forceful high contact and preventing injuries”.

Powell-Pepper’s practice match incident, which concussed Adelaide’s Mark Keane, came in a week when two stories further illuminated the spotlight on head knocks in the game.

A mega concussion class action against the AFL got even bigger and Melbourne star Angus Brayshaw was forced into early retirement due to microscopic changes in his brain.

The AFL’s counsel, Lisa Hannon KC, said during Wednesday’s tribunal hearing that the league was not making Powell-Pepper a scapegoat in wanting a four-game ban.

Marcus Bontempelli and Dan Houston clash. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Sam Powell-Pepper crashes into Jordan Dawson. Picture: Mark Brake/Getty Images

But she made it clear things would be different this year.

Hannon said although Powell-Pepper’s conduct “might have resulted in a three-game suspension in 2020 or 2023, it must be viewed through the lens of community standards prevalent in 2024 and the very strong and entirely appropriate focus on the protection of the head”.

“It’s something that in 2024 is deserving of a four-match suspension,” Hannon said.

“It sends a message to the playing community about the standards expected of players … to take the utmost care in any action that might result in a collision with the head.”

Powell-Pepper essentially became a test case for how “evolving community standards” would shape tribunal judgments on these types of incidents in 2024.

Pickett has been put on report for this late hit on Bailey Smith.

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That was potentially reflected in Wednesday’s deliberation taking a mammoth 90-odd minutes.

If he received three weeks, as Port had pushed for, there would have been questions asked if anything had really changed.

The Power believed a month-long ban was “manifestly excessive”.

After all, no player received more than a three-match suspension for a headhigh bump in 2023 — the only four-week ban was for a Nathan Broad sling tackle.

AFL requests for month-long suspensions for high bumps by Richmond’s Toby Nankervis and Collingwood’s Jordan De Goey resulted in three-week tribunal verdicts.

Adelaide’s Shane McAdam and Richmond’s Rhyan Mansell received the same sanction.

Take a look at each of those incidents and Powell-Pepper’s does not seem to be any worse.

The previous four-week suspension for a high bump was when Geelong’s Tom Stewart ran past the ball and ironed out Richmond’s Dion Prestia at the MCG in June 2022.

Tom Stewart connects with Dion Prestia

A groggy Prestia is helped from the field. Picture: Photo: Michael Klein

Powell-Pepper’s sanction will stir more debate ahead of the season as to whether the AFL is doing enough on concussion, the ban is adequate, what it means for players in fast-paced, 360-degree sport and how the game compares to days gone by.

Most footy observers would likely say Stewart’s bump looked worse than Powell-Pepper’s.

But that was two seasons ago – before Brayshaw, Paddy McCartin, Paul Seedsman, Max Lynch, Marcus Adams and Max Lynch had retired due to concussion.

And before a string of other past players had told their harrowing head knock stories.

Eighteen months is a long time in the landscape of how the AFL has dealt with concussion, arguably its most pressing issue.

There is no looking back.

The new guidelines and Powell-Pepper’s penalty give an indication of what is to come.

Originally published as AFL news: Sam Powell-Pepper four-game suspension sends a clear message to players – bump at your own risk