AFL champion Leigh Matthews believes off-field umpires should be given the power to send off players during a game with the aid of video technology.
The call comes after back-to-back incidents involving Richmond's Bachar Houli and Melbourne's Tom Bugg, with Bugg likely to follow in the Tiger's footsteps and head to the AFL Tribunal after striking Sydney's Callum Mills on Friday night.
Mills was floored by the hit and was subsequently helped off the ground where he failed his concussion test, and was ruled out for the remainder of the match.
Matthews was on 3AW radio on Saturday morning and spoke about the incident, and suggested that given the video technology that has entered the league over recent years, it should also be used for sending players off for reportable offences.
โItโs pretty rare, but weโve seen it twice in two weeks where a player has been knocked out early in the game from an obviously illegal blow,โ Matthews told 3AW on Saturday.
โToday weโve got cameras all over the place.
โTake last night โ after 10-15min you know Callum Mills is gone from the game. By the next break in play the vision has been looked at by people in goal review situation ... it could be Hayden Kennedy, the umpiresโ coach, who says, โYes, it was definitely reportableโ, so at the next break that player will be removed from the ground.
โSo youโve got the aggressor off and the victim off, that seems fair and reasonable to me.
โI think in modern footy weโre ready for that.โ
Former West Coast and Carlton star Chris Judd agreed with Matthews' statement, suggesting the Swans should not be punished for something that was the fault of a Melbourne player.
โI think for extreme circumstances. I think itโs something that should be looked at,โ Judd said on Triple Mย on Saturday.
โItโs not fair that Sydney are so heavily penalised like they are now for something that was clearly a Melbourne playerโs fault.โ
