Tom Bugg to face tribunal after striking incident

AFL legends have called on the game to take immediate action after the second violent incident in a fortnight.

Swans players remonstrate with Melbourne's Tomas Bugg after an off the ball incident with Callum Mills. Pic: Michael Klein

ANOTHER week in the AFL, another striking incident.

Melbourne Demons’ star Tom Bugg has become the latest player to be placed on report for striking, after the midfielder lashed out at Sydney’s Callum Mills.

Replays showed Bugg connect with a punch to the chin of Mills in backplay, sending the Swans’ star spilling to the ground.

Bugg was immediately reported by the on-field umpires.

Mills was rushed into the dressing rooms for a concussion test, and played no further part in the match.

Tomas Bugg has been reported for this strike on Callum Mills. #AFLDeesSwans pic.twitter.com/ADWjAjpC5e

— AFL (@AFL) June 30, 2017

Mills' night is done.

A huge loss so early in the game but his health is paramount. Let's hope he's okay.#AFLDeesSwans

— Sydney Swans (@sydneyswans) June 30, 2017

Tom Bugg hit on Callum Mills.

The incident sparked a melee that saw Bugg become a target by the Swans players looking to get some of their own back.

It was Melbourne though who ended up with a free kick as a result of the incident, after Sydney’s Tom Papley bumped Bugg as he was running off the ground.

Channel Seven commentator Wayne Carey was quick to condemn the on-field umpires for that decision, as it saw Sydney receive no benefit, despite what looked like violent act of play.

“It’s poor umpiring I reckon,” Carey said. “They’ve benefited the side that the boy gets knocked out, obviously illegal. A little push and they reverse it.

“That’s a big penalty against Sydney there.”

Tom Papley of the Swans remonstrates with Tomas Bugg.

AFL legend Cameron Ling said Bugg faced severe punishment from the AFL tribunal.

“He’s in trouble, big trouble, that is ordinary,” Ling said. “I’m with Duck (Carey) on this, because that was reversed with a bit of a push, bump in a bit of a wrestle.

“It’s just a bump. He goes down in a bit of a wrestle. If the umpires want to keep control of that, they should have had Sydney kick a goal and said to Tom Bugg — you don’t ever do that in a game of footy.”

The AFL tribunal will again be placed in the spotlight following the incident.

Richmond’s Bachar Houli was handed a four week suspension for a similar incident. It was increased on appeal after the tribunal initially handed the Richmond player a two week ban.

Already there are calls for Bugg to receive a lengthy ban, far exceeding that of Houli.

Tom Bugg in big trouble. In a week when Houli goes for 4 weeks the spotlight will be on the tribunal again! No references will save him

— 코 니. Rob Cornthwaite (@robcornthwaite) June 30, 2017

Very, very ordinary act from Tom Bugg. Callum Mills WAS NOT ready. That's certainly how you fire up the opposition. #AFLDeesSwans

— Adam White (@White_Adam) June 30, 2017

That's worse than Houli in my opinion....Bugg looking straight at Mills. He can book a holiday for all of July https://t.co/SUCRh5JGbn

— Tom Steinfort (@tomsteinfort) June 30, 2017

It is the second straight week that a violent incident has marred an AFL fixture.

Bugg’s attack on Mills’ has seen Sydney forced to play a man short for the majority of the match, while the Demons’ player was allowed to continue. This has again strengthened calls from AFL legends to introduce a send-off rule.

Gillon McLachlan had ironically been asked about the introduction of a send-off rule on Friday morning. The AFL chief is not in favour of introducing it, given the significant impact it can have on a match, and the need to get any such ruling one hundred per cent correct.

AFL legend Paul Roos said while he is against a send-off rule, there does need to be some change to AFL rules.

“In this instance it is unfair that Sydney have got one down,” Roos said. “I would be all for an AFL official coming down and saying ‘OK, Bugg — you’re out of the game’.

“I don’t think it’s a send-off rule, but I think what you’re doing, in a grand final, you don’t want to penalise a team for an act like that.”

Tom Bugg after the incident.

Former Brownlow Gerard Healy agreed with Roos’, saying that there needed to be some method of equalisation in violent incidents where a player is left injured.

“I’ve been saying for a long time that the game needs a mechanism to take players off the ground that are involved in acts like Bugg, Barry Hall,” Healy said.

“We’ve had two in two weeks, probably five in six or seven years, but I think the game needs an equalisation policy if you like.

“I think with the amount of cameras we have around, the amount of officiating, it should come in for finals at least. I think he’s looking at six weeks and a push for a red card is going to be fairly significant this week.”

Bugg showed remorse for his actions post-game, apologising to Mills for the incident.

“It does look really bad,” Bugg told Seven. “I’m a bit embarrassed. My genuine intent was not to hurt Callum. It’s dissappointng he couldn’t take part in the rest of the game.

“Going forward I hope he is OK. I tried to speak to him after the game, but I could understand if he didn’t want to speak to me too much. I hope for him and his family he gets better and can play next week.”

“It’s not the way we want to be seen as a club. We want Melbourne to be a strong football side and not have incidents like that define us.”

Bugg expects to be heavily scrutinised in the coming days, as the incident continues to be debated.

“I think we saw the case last week with Bachar,” Bugg said.

“I will cop the consequences that come my way. The AFL don’t tolerate and I don’t tolerate it either. Going forward I will rectify it. I will go away for whatever time I have off.”

WATCH: @mattricho0 is joined by @tommybugg to discuss his report for striking Callum Mills in the opening term.#AFLDeesSwans pic.twitter.com/zwAYKnzFuV

— AFL on 7 (@7AFL) June 30, 2017

Originally published as Tom Bugg to face tribunal after striking incident