Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley demands the AFL should clarify their bumping contact rules to allow players to be certain of what the limitations are.
A contact incident involving Hawthorn's Ryan Burton and North Melbourne forward Shaun Higgins on the weekend, which left Higgins unconscious sparked Buckley to speak up and seek out answers from the AFL.
Hoping for the best for Shaun Higgins and Ed Vickers-Willis.
Higgins was taken off on a stretcher and Vickers-Willis has headed to the rooms.
Update thanks to @MLC_Australia. #AFLNorthHawks pic.twitter.com/VLVJATO9jm
— AFL (@AFL) April 22, 2018
“I think you got to address it, I think that’s what leadership is. You got to say, hey, this is how we see it," Buckley told SEN’s Whateley.
“Maybe it’s Chrisso [Christian] himself coming out and saying, this is how I viewed it, this is how we viewed the rules, and this is how I’m going to adjudicate it going forward."
Burton was cleared from any charges by the Match Review Panel because "the player executed he bump with contact to the body and could not have reasonably foreseen a clash of heads between the players," however Buckley still believes there's a blurred line somewhere in the rule book.
“I suppose to do that, he would need to have the support of the AFL to do so," Buckley explained.
“I think there needs to be a clarity brought to it because I think there would be a few people scratching their heads because that decision is so different to recent times.
“If there is a shift, let’s get in front of the curve so we know about it.”
