Dermott Brereton and Luke Hodge have squared off on the possibility of the AFL introducing a send-off rule.
Kane Cornes put the send-off rule on the agenda and reignited the debate following Toby Nankervis’ bump on Jake Lloyd from Thursday night.
While the star Swan was concussed and subbed out of the game, Nankervis went on to be one of Richmond’s best in a tight win.
It’s not the first time we’ve seen such incidents, with Jordan De Goey’s bump on West Coast's Elijah Hewett from earlier this year also a seemingly clear-cut case.
Hodge suggested the game needs an equalisation measure in the form of a send-off rule.
“There’s three that come to mind. Nankervis one where Lloyd is taken out of the play… the Nathan Broad tackle from earlier in the year, the dump tackle, his player that was taken off with concussion,” Hodge began on SEN’s Crunch Time.
“And Tom Stewart’s bump last year on Dion Prestia… he got best on ground that day.
“Does it come to a stage where if it’s clear cut, we’ve got someone in the bunker who can make that call who’s with the MRP or the AFL to determine, ‘you’ve taken this bloke out illegally, you’re clearly going to get three or four weeks, to even this up do we send you off as well’.”
But in response, Brereton called to preserve the integrity of the game.
“Historically we’ve never done it… it will distort history if we do this,” he began.
“We are a robust sport, honestly. If we go down this path, what are we turning into?
“We’re already pandering to the wokeness of the crowd in this sport… can we just get through a season and not go backwards in terms of turning this into completely.”
Listen to the full discussion early on in the podcast below.