Sydney Swans coach says AFL should revisit send-off rule

After losing a gun defender to a serious hit last Thursday night, Sydney coach John Longmire says a send-off rule is worth a look.

Jake Lloyd is walked off the MCG by medical staff. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Sydney coach John Longmire has put the send-off rule back on the agenda, declaring it should not be “taken off the table” as an option for the AFL in the wake of defender Jake Lloyd‘s game-ending concussion last week.

Richmond co-captain Toby Nankervis will face the AFL tribunal on Tuesday night and is facing a three-week ban for the hit at the MCG in the second quarter of last Thursday’s game, with Lloyd set to miss this week’s clash with the Western Bulldogs as a result.

The incident, which robbed the Swans of a key player in a must-win match, has raised questions about whether the AFL should have a send-off rule and Longmire, who was against such a move for most of his 299-game coaching career, has changed his mind.

Jake Lloyd was unable to continue after being concussed. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Longmire said the shift in attitudes towards concussion, and doctors more regularly ruling players out in games after collisions that result in suspensions should elevate the discussion around a send-off rule.

While he conceded he didn’t have “all the answers”, Longmire, who will coach game 300 on Thursday, said it could be time attitudes changed with the game.

“I was always in the no send-off camp over the years, but what’s happening in the game now, it’s changing a fair bit in regards to HIAs (concussions assessments), that’s happening a lot,” he said on Monday.

“I understand the sub is there to help mitigate those things that are happening more and more, but often that sub is not the type of payer you have in your starting 22, it’s a different type of player and you can be unsettled.

“I don’t think there is a cut and dry answer, it doesn’t mean that everything is right.

“The only thing I would say is the HIA going the way it is, and going through the roof, it’s maybe worth looking at as a consideration … look at what are the outcomes that might be a positive for the game and take it from there.”

Toby Nankervis has been reported following this incident with Jake Lloyd.#AFLTigersSwanspic.twitter.com/KtLx5yTZGe

— AFL (@AFL) July 6, 2023

Longmire conceded examples in the NRL, which has both a 10-minute sin bin as well as a send-off rule, had shown on-the-spot decisions could be wrong, with players subsequently cleared of wrongdoing at the judiciary after being sent from the field.

But he said teams didn’t deserved to be disadvantaged, as the Swans were in the loss to Richmond, by “obvious” foul play.

“We obviously lost Jake for that game and for two weeks and we lost a goal with the ball being in play for a minute. We were hit from all sides,” he said.

“But we don’t want an advantage, we just don’t want to be disadvantaged when you do nothing wrong.

“We see it in rugby league, that doesn’t always go right either. Where do you draw the line?

You don’t want to be in those 50-50 discussions and have a player rubbed out for a game, they go to the tribunal and are OK. They only have to be the really obvious ones. If you get in that grey area, it’s too big a penalty.

“I don’t think it should be put off the table. You are just trying to move with the way the game is going.”

Originally published as Sydney Swans coach says AFL should revisit send-off rule