I get the feeling after yesterday’s incident at Optus Stadium that provision to remove a player from the field will become available in the near future. As much to protect the aggressor as to balance out available numbers.
A Simpson did the wrong thing by putting Gaff back on. It exploited Fremantle’s personnel disadvantage and it nearly got Gaff knocked out.
Reckon that decision will be taken out of the hands of coaches.
When we say “send off”, does that mean the team is down one player on field (17 v 18), or is it merely they are one man down on the bench? Make it like soccer, you are down a man on the field. For incidents like that, Hall on Staker, Bugg on Mills, etc, I think that is a fair punishment.
It was caught on camera, did any umpire see it? Are we going to use video reveiw for it? And what if they send off the player but then the victim comes back on?
Or if the aggressor is reported and the report is thrown out at the tribunal?
What if the victim actually gets concussed when his head hits the ground rather than from the shoulder of his opponent?
Absolutely not.
The day we get a send off rule is the day I stop watching footy.
I’d support 1x down on the bench. If they ever get to a point where the bench is used exclusively for substitutions rather than rotations, then you’d expect 1x player down on field (18 v 17) like in Soccer.
I do not see how the umpires could ever get this wrong.
Was there any doubt as to what occurred yesterday to A Bradshaw and who the perpetrator was? That’s the type of incident I’m talking about.
I’d support it but i don’t trust it to be executed correctly. They can’t get the tribunal right, they’ll definitely screw this. And how would it work, live judging from Michael Christian?
In all my time watching football, I can only think of 3x times a player would be sent off. Mathews on Bruns, Hall on Staker and Gaff on Brayshaw.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
And probably any tackle by Dempsey.
The criteria would be an act that could be considered a criminal assault.
That game nearly got out of control because of Gaff’s continued presence on the field.
The field umpires completely missed it so a send off system would have been useless anyway.
I think it’s a great idea, for a league that is not this one.
I simply don’t trust the umpires to get this right.
In any case, it’s a radical solution to address the symptom rather than the cause.
I don’t think there’s many people suggesting Gaff performed this action because he’s a thug that shouldn’t be playing.
He did it because that’s the accepted culture of the game.
Players belt each other, without penalty,
All.
The.
Time.
All of the times.
In every game.
Punches to the gut, to the chest, closed fist, swinging arm, not little taps but decent hits.
And apparently that’s okay.
If indeed Gaff did ‘miss’ then the overall culture of the game, where it’s perfectly acceptable to punch other players, is to blame here.
Even if he didn’t hit Brayshaw where he meant to, the fact that he thought it was okay to punch his opponent at all, in my opinion, says a lot more about the game right now than it does about Gaff.
The fourth umpire could make the call upon reviewing the tape.
I’m not talking about sending off a player for high contact in a marking contest or a high bump, I’m talking about off the ball striking with intent.
Luckily, it seldom happens but when it does, that player needs to be removed from play.
Like you said, it happens that rarely why bother?
Because the entire Fremantle team wanted to kill A Gaff.
If anything it is to diffuse the situation.
The coach can do that by leaving him on the bench if it’s that bad.
No more new rules please
Which is what should have happened yesterday. As I said in the opening post, A Simpson didn’t do anything wrong by returning Gaff to the field but it was the wrong thing to do.
I’m saying that in those rare circumstances that require it, it shouldn’t be A Simpson’s decision if Gaff plays any further part in the game.