AFL 2022: Mark Robinson says Richmond’s Tom Lynch deserved a suspension for hit on Jarman Impey

Richmond’s Tom Lynch escaped a penalty for raising an elbow into the face of Hawthorn’s Jarman Impey. Would Toby Greene have got the same result?

These are strange days in footy,

Did you know you can elbow a player in the face and not be suspended?

Not if you’re Toby Greene.

Last season, the resident bad boy of the AFL was copped a week for raising an elbow into the face/neck of Geelong’s Patrick Dangerfield.

Rightfully, the precedent was set.

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A freeze-frame moment from Fox Footy’s coverage, showing Tom Lynch and Hawthorn’s Jarman Impey colliding at the MCG on Saturday.

Strange then that at the weekend, Richmond’s Tom Lynch escaped a penalty for raising an elbow into the face of Hawthorn’s Jarman Impey.

The AFL MRO assessed the incident as: “Lynch takes possession of the loose ball on the wing. Impey approaches to tackle from side on and high contact is made by Lynch on Impey. It was the view of the Match Review Officer that Lynch’s actions were not unreasonable in the circumstances. No further action was taken.’’

So, the MRO is saying it’s not unreasonable to elbow an approaching player in the face if it’s a fend. That is mystifying.

Greene cops Toby Tax and Lynch walks free.

Try to assess the incident from Impey’s angle — he’s running in, knowing he can get to Lynch to tackle him legally and in the next moment, he cannons into the raised elbow of Lynch, has his eye opened up and has to leave the field.

But it wasn’t unreasonable, said the AFL.

The AFL pats itself on the back for all the work it does on concussion research and CTE — a brain disease that has played a part in ex-players taking their own lives — and making the head sacrosanct.

Yet, Lynch was able to use the elbow, one of the most unforgiving weapons used to injure a player, and the AFL says, “play on”.

Toby Greene was suspended for a week after this hit on Patrick Dangerfield last year.

How possibly can the use of an elbow when defending yourself or fending off an opponent be acceptable?

It’s a staggeringly wrong decision by the AFL.

It comes as the AFL is trying to change behaviours.

The dissent rule — which is great for the sport through the levels of competition — wants players to curb their aggressive behaviour towards umpires.

If guilty, it’s a 50m penalty.

In contrast, Lynch got a free kick paid against him for opening up Impey’s head.

You easily could argue the Lynch hit was worse than Greene’s hit on Dangerfield.

In that incident, Dangerfield left the field and was replaced by Geelong’s medical sub Quinton Narkle.

Dangerfield suffered a bruised larynx from the incident and was taken to hospital, where he spent the night before being released.

Amid a highly debated incident, Greene was found guilty of careless conduct.

The AFL tribunal believed Greene chose to use a raised elbow to fend off Dangerfield in circumstances where there was a likely chance of high contact occurring.

Couldn’t the same be said of Lynch, or is this just a Toby Tax?