There has been an ongoing trend in the league this season that should have the AFL concerned.
Players are being pushed into marking contests and getting injured. It’s already happened many times this year, and the results have not been good.
Enough is enough, and Rhyan Mansell must be the fall guy.
After the preseason incident where Eagles defender Ruben Ginbey pushed No.1 pick Sam Lalor into the contest, resulting in a concussion and a broken jaw, the AFL had a chance to make a stand against a dangerous action and suspend Ginbey, setting an example for the rest of the league.
Unfortunately, the AFL weren’t as strong as it needed to be and let Ginbey off the hook.
Now, after Saints defender Liam O’Connell has been concussed, the AFL are pretty much being forced to be tough on this issue. The tribunal upheld the Tiger’s three-game suspension.
VERDICT: ‘Shakes his head in disbelief’: Shocked Tiger learns fate for controversial push as Tribunal disputes key claim
The main issue with this move is that the potential for injury is ridiculously high. In all these situations, the player always ends up with some kind of head injury, such as a concussion or a broken jaw.
With all the talk recently about head injuries and how badly they can affect players after their career and how they can end careers way too early, anything that can drastically decrease the chance of a concussion should be strongly looked at by the league.
The potential for a freak injury is also going to keep increasing if they allow this action to keep happening.
Last year in local football, a player from St. Kevin’s lost sight in his right eye after a freak injury where he collided with another player’s knee.
The more the AFL allows players to be put in these dangerous situations, the higher the risk of a player losing a career to this kind of freak injury.
While I do understand that there is little to no chance that this will ever happen, there is no loss if the AFL bans this action.
Rhyan Mansell celebrates a goal. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
There is such an easy solution for this as well: suspend them.
While three weeks seems steep for an action that can be accidental at times, it’s the only way for AFL players to change the way they play.
When the dangerous tackle rule was introduced, many people thought it was over the top, but over the last few seasons, there have been little-to-no suspensions for this rule because players changed the way they tackle.
Sometimes, the AFL have to suspend actions that can be accidental to make players aware of the potential risk.
What do you think should happen with pushing players into the contest?
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West Coast Eagles coach Andrew McQualter has defended young star Harley Reid after a controversial 50-metre penalty that led to a crucial Richmond goal…
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Not a whole lot of love lost!
Dumb from Tyler Brockman!
Rhyan Mansell was only too happy to get under Harley's skin!
