The guidelines for the Match Review Panel are set to come under intense review during the upcoming off-season, following a controversial ruling on an incident involving Richmond captain Trent Cotchin on Saturday afternoon.
Cotchin attacked the ball and collected GWS midfielder Dylan Shiel with his shoulder in the first quarter, and Shiel was initially shaken up by the hit, and eventually was ruled out of the remainder of the game at quarter time with delayed concussion.
Even just a fine would have seen Cotchin miss the grand final through suspension, but the MRP cleared the Tigers' skipper of any wrongdoing, and also cleared his teammate Brandon Ellis for a bump on Giant Lachie Whitfield, as both decisions divided opinions around the league.
SEN journalist Sam McClure told the radio station on Tuesday morning that change is coming to the system over the next few months, as the new general manager of football at the AFL, Steve Hocking, begins his tenure.
“Major changes looming at the Match Review Panel,” said McClure told SEN Breakfast.
“Steve Hocking, the new general manager of footy who hasn’t started yet at the AFL, he will start in mid-October and it is fair to say, he will go through the Match Review Panel with a fine-tooth comb.
“We are not going to have the same system next year that we have this year. I’m not saying it will be a dramatic overhaul but I think there will be significant changes in and around how the Match Review Panel operates.
“There is feeling from both in and out of AFL House that there needs to be a better system than just four people on a panel who just eventually have to come to a resolution, whether one or two people disagree with it.”
As it stands, the panel currently has four members involved, after former Geelong star Jimmy Bartel stepped down in August.
Ex-Carlton defender Michael Jamison, former Pie and media member Michael Christian, former Bomber Jason Johnson and St Kilda champion Nathan Burke are the four members of the panel.
