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I love this time of year. I love it when we see brilliant individual performances, such as Nick Davis’ last quarter heroics against Geelong in the 2005 semis, where he kicked four goals.
I love it when we see the hunger of clubs that seek redemption, such as Geelong who fell short in 2008, but tasted the ultimate success the following year in 2009. How sweet.
I love it when we see things that defy belief, such as a club that finished ninth (Carlton) defeating the club that finished fifth (Richmond) in 2013.
Stranger still, this is the time of year where it is possible to see two clubs attack the ball equally with such ferocity in a grand final that there is no winner and no loser, and both teams must play again, as was the case with St Kilda and Collingwood in 2010.
I love this time of year because anything can happen.
But this time of year is not just about the finals. It’s also a time for the AFL to look back and review the home-and-away season. To look at what worked and what didn’t, and evaluate what needs tinkering and what needs to be scrapped altogether.
I would suggest that the AFL start with the Match Review Panel (MRP).
With AFL being a contact sport, the MRP obviously cannot be scrapped altogether. However, changes must be made. Currently, we have a system that is so systemically riddled with inconsistencies that you would have a better chance of knowing if Adelaide was going to turn up to play this week than knowing the outcome of a MRP decision.
These inconsistencies frustrate players, coaches and supporters alike. At the beginning of the season, we were told by the MRP that the head was sacrosanct and that players who elected to bump and make head-high contact would find themselves sitting on the sidelines the next week.
This was the fate that befell Nat Fyfe, who was reported and suspended for two weeks for making head-high contact on the Gold Coast’s Michael Rischitelli in Round 2. In the weeks that followed, Melbourne’s Jack Viney and Sydney’s Dan Hannebery were reported for similar offences. However, neither player was suspended as the MRP held that they had no realistic alternative option but to make contact.
The MRP was more than likely correct in finding Viney and Hannebery not guilty. Both players had their eyes on the ball and, ultimately, were so committed to gaining possession of the ball that the head-high contact they made with the opposition was inevitable.
But wasn’t this also the case with Fyfe? The answer has already been well documented.
Aside from the issues surrounding head-high contact, the MRP must also fix the way in which it evaluates suspensions. The punishment has not always fitted the crime in 2014.
Acts which are intentional, malicious and in complete abrogation of the spirit of the game must be punished accordingly.
It sickens me a little that Nat Fyfe and Reece Conca were both suspended for two weeks. In fact, it sickens me a lot.
Fyfe was going for the ball. Conca was going for Devon Smith’s head, unknowingly to Smith, who was running to the interchange gate, only to be hit from behind.
What message are we sending to the spectators and future players of the game? And why do players try and justify their actions by saying they had a ‘brain fade’?
AFL is a contact sport and players impliedly agree to receive contact from each other in the course of the game. However, they do not agree to being punched, kicked or choked. These actions amount to assault.
If Brian Lake were to choke someone on the streets of Melbourne he would find himself in a far worse predicament than a 4-week hiatus from football. The MRP had the opportunity with Lake’s case to show the broader community that such vicious actions will not be tolerated. Yet, the MRP relinquished this opportunity and Lake served only two more games on the sideline than Fyfe.
These systemic issues need to be rectified before the 2015 season begins.
Nat Fyfe’s second suspension for the season, striking in Round 21, is the best thing to happen to the MRP this year, after much speculation that the Fremantle star might miss out on the Brownlow because of his first suspension in Round 2. The issue has now been put to bed.
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