Simon Goodwin advises his players not to bump despite a shock AFL tribunal ruling

West Coast’s Willie Rioli was cleared by the AFL tribunal over a contentious bump and the reining premiership coach has had his say.

Willie Rioli of the Eagles was cleared after this collision with Matt Rowell (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Premiership coach Simon Goodwin will continue to tell his players not to bump in the wake of Tuesday night‘s shock tribunal decision to clear West Coast’s Willie Rioli as he declared rule interpretations were one of the great challenges in the AFL.

The football world was left stunner when Rioli’s one-match ban for rough conduct, when he cannoned in to Gold Coast’s Matthew Rowell in a making contest in Perth last Sunday, was overturned by the AFL tribunal.

Despite the shock ruling, Goodwin said he would continue to tell his players there was “no point in bumping” because the consequences of any bump could be taken out of their hands completely.

“There’s decisions which are always going to shock you but there are also decisions which begin to build some clarity in what the game looks like going forward. Where the challenge lies is the interpretation,” Goodwin said on Wednesday.

“The one thing we know in our game, whether it be umpiring or the MRO, the more rules and interpretations you bring in the harder the challenge is to come to a conclusion. Not one incident is always going to be the same and it will be up for interpretation.

Willie Rioli of the Eagles was cleared after this collision with Matt Rowell . (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

“We generally advise our players don’t bump.

“We spend a lot of time around our contest and our contest method about how we protect the players who are actually winning the ball but how we go about tackling guys who have the ball.

“They are not going to get it right all the time but bumping’s a part of our game now that I sit and as a coach say there’s no point bumping, you might as well tackle.”

Goodwin confirmed premiership defender Jake Lever wouldn’t return for Saturday’s clash against the Gold Coast Suns as he continues to recover from a sore foot.

Jake Lever is still nursing a sore foot (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

But Trent Rivers will be back, to fill the gap left by Christian Salem who is facing up to eight weeks on the sidelines after having knee surgery following the opening round win over the Western Bulldogs.

“We are going to take a cautious approach (with Lever). He’s still a little bit sore in that foot,” Goodwin said.

“It’s a good thing the plantar fascia is torn … we’ll make sure we mend him the right way.

“There’ a big likelihood Trent will come in to the team based on the work he has done over the last few weeks.

“He’s one player who will be a welcome return. He’s done a power of work in his rehabilitation. He fits that need across the halfback line we have.”