Talk of a red card or send-off rule stands alongside the night/twilight Grand Final and zones as potential changes to the game which divide footy fans everywhere.
Arguments for and against send offs can generally be whittled down to one of two arguments: The traditionalists who believe the game is perfect as it is and that borrowing rules from other sports is tantamount to treason and those who support the introduction of send-offs who believe the game should evolve to be consistent with community standards.
For the AFL, the introduction of a red card should boil down to one simple ideal: Fairness.
Tom Bugg's hit on Callum Mills last weekend meant the Swans had to play most of the game a man down.
Palpably unfair acts on a football field should be punished with the advantage going to the aggrieved team in addition to what ever sanction the governing body deems appropriate post-game.
Send off rules do exist and are enforced in lower leagues, yet the AFL has consistently resisted calls for implementing one in the senior league. For a league which has constantly made rule changes to fix problems which don't exist, it baffles the mind why they choose to dig their heels in for a problem which does.
One argument against a red card is the potential for mistaken identity. I have often heard the argument which goes: "what if someone is wrongly sent off in the Grand Final?"
There is a fairly simple solution to this. Take the decision out of the hands of the field umpires and give it to a TV official with access to television replays. Perhaps the same official who adjudicates on score reviews.
In soccer, FIFA has recently introduced the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) to adjudicate on decisions like these. The on-field referee refers the incident to the VAR who makes a decision based on available video evidence.
Of course it will slow down the game but the right decision should always be preferred over the quick decision or the wrong decision.
It seems odd that the only league lacking a send off rule is the league with the most extensive media coverage. There are multiple cameras at every game, covering every conceivable angle. The technology is available to make the right decision, it just isn't used.
The red card would also act as a punishment for actions which would be completely unacceptable in a non-footballing context and as a deterrent for players to commit such acts of violence.
It seems absurd that an act like Bugg's hit or Luke Hodge deliberately squeezing Chad Wingard's head into the post cannot be punished in the moment by anything more than a free kick and 50-metre penalty.
Just to be clear, I'm not arguing for send-offs whenever someone is reported, I am arguing for send-offs when a player is violent.
Obviously a soccer-style send-off rule would be completely unworkable in the AFL but there surely is a solution.
The AFL and its fans should see the red card as an opportunity to clean up the game, rather than as an assault on it. There are plenty of things the AFL can learn from other sports, and we must embrace the ideas to improve our great game.
