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There’s been a raging debate for the last two years over the introduction of red cards in the AFL, with the majority of discussion centred on levelling teams once a player has intentionally or recklessly injured an opponent.
Until West Coast and Fremantle played on Sunday afternoon, Tomas Bugg’s strike on Callum Mills and Jeremy Cameron’s two flying hits were the measuring sticks
Lions defender Harris Andrews has been taken off on a stretcher after this collision with Jeremy Cameron. #AFLLionsGiants pic.twitter.com/ubWZgH8qzR
— AFL (@AFL) June 23, 2018
The last act of serious violence on a football field, certainly in the last ten years, was Barry Hall’s strike on Brent Staker, in 2008. The incident left Staker’s family in a state of shock and ultimately derailed Hall’s time with the Swans.
State leagues and grassroots football have had red cards, and have used them before – Will Minson was famously sent off the ground for umpire contact in a 2015 VFL match for Williamstown.
Nevertheless, Andrew Gaff’s moment of extreme violence on Andrew Brayshaw has thrust the debate back to the top of the agenda.
Brayshaw underwent surgery for a broken jaw on Monday morning. The 18-year-old, Fremantle’s first pick in the 2017 AFL Draft, has been ruled out of the rest of the season, and will be unable to eat solid foods for the next four weeks.
The AFL’s response was for match review officer Michael Christian to send Gaff straight to the tribunal, with the highest grading possible for the strike, assessing it as intentional with severe conduct to the head.
Red cards and send-offs aren’t a new concept in sport – both major rugby codes have them, as well does football.
Former AFL umpires coach Hayden Kennedy said back in 2016 that umpires wouldn’t have a problem handing out red cards if it were necessary.
Ironically, the last time the red card debate erupted was for Tom Jonas’ late hit on Gaff, which ruled the Eagles midfielder out of the match with concussion. Jonas was likewise sent straight to the tribunal.
There’s always been resistance from the broader AFL community and AFL House about introducing a send-off rule, fearing it could be used inappropriately, or inconsistently applied.
But it’s more of a risk to leave a player who has committed an act of extreme violence out on the field, allowing opponents to square them up in retribution, as we saw on Sunday afternoon.
Andrew Gaff was escorted from the field in the hands of the trainers after this incident involving Michael Johnson. #AFLEaglesFreo pic.twitter.com/8iGJ2zMXpZ
— AFL (@AFL) August 5, 2018
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