Rhyan Mansell suspended after legends demand AFL take action

The AFL have dropped the hammer on a Richmond player after legends of the game demanded the league “outlaw” one ugly act.

The AFL have dropped the hammer on Richmond’s Rhyan Mansell after legends of the game demanded the league “outlaw” one ugly act.

Mansell came under fire after he became the latest player to shove an opponent into a marking contest.

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Mansell shoved St Kilda’s St Kilda Liam O’Connell into oncoming traffic in the second quarter on Saturday afternoon.

As the Tigers sent the ball inside 50, O’Connell had his eyes on the ball in flight as Mansell lost his position.

Tom Lynch and Anthony Caminiti came storming out towards the drop of the ball with Mansell pushing an off balance O’Connell into their path.

O’Connell came off second best after colliding with Lynch before he ultimately left the contest with a concussion.

Watch the horror incident in the video player above

Liam O'Connell concussed after horror incident.

The incident didn’t sit well with two AFL greats who called for the league to take action in stamping the act out.

“That is dangerous — that is what needs to be outlawed,” Garry Lyon said on Fox Footy.

Jason Dunstall: “We’ve got to stop that … We don’t like that, players pushing in (opponents into traffic).”

So far in 2025 there have been six incidents where players have been pushed into contests by their opponents.

Not one incident has attracted the attention of the AFL’s Match Review Officer. That all appears set to change with Herald Sun chief football reporter Jay Clark believing Mansell will be slapped with a three-game sanction.

“The AFL said in a memo to the whole league three weeks ago that they’re going to crack down on exactly these sorts of incidents, and if they’re serious, then young Tiger Rhyan Mansell will receive a three-match ban,” Clark said on Fox’s Super Saturday Live.

“You can see Mansell pushes O’Connell into an oncoming train. There’s the push, bang, into Tom Lynch, he (O’Connell) is concussed on the spot.

“The force is serious, and the impact is clearly severe, so that triggers a three-match ban, no doubt about that for Rhyan Mansell.

“The key question is could Mansell reasonably foresee that it would be a dangerous action when he pushed him, knowing the platers were coming in the other direction. For me, it’s a clear yes, and he should be rubbed out.”

O’Connell heading towards the contest after being pushed by Mansell. (Photo by Morgan Hancock/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

The moment of impact. (Photo by Jonathan DiMaggio/Getty Images)

AFL great Matthew Lloyd has been pleading with the league to take action since the pre-season, when Richmond’s Sam Lalor was injured after a similar incident, and said it’s time for the league to take action.

“I was really concerned what Ginbey did it because I understand the tunnelling side of it,” Lloyd said on Nine’s Sunday Footy Show.

“And when you sort of can push a player into traffic and can hurt them, and for whatever reason, the AFL did nothing about it.”

Damien Barrett asked: “When you see that and look, it’s hard to be talking about a younger player in Rhyan Mansell doing this. But when you see that. Does he deserve a three week?”

Lloyd responded: “Yes he does. It’s so dangerous. Absolutely dangerous. I don’t think he’ll be playing for three weeks.”

MRO Michael Christian will reveal his findings from Saturday’s games on Sunday evening.

Originally published as Rhyan Mansell suspended after legends demand AFL take action