GEELONG coach Chris Scott says the system that led to Western Bulldogs forward Jack Redpath getting three weeks for striking is flawed.
He called for a debate on the Tribunal system post-season suggesting that the mid-season crackdown on jumper punches had led to "incongruous" outcomes.
Scott's Collingwood counterpart Nathan Buckley echoed his sentiments on Thursday, saying there was a better way than suspension to remove undesirable acts from the game.
Redpath was originally given one week by the Match Review Panel for striking Greater Western Sydney's Phil Davis with an open hand to the neck, which became two weeks because of a bad record.
He then appealed the decision and was given an extra week when the tribunal upheld the MRP's finding.
"[Former AFL football operations manager] Mark Evans and his team did a fantastic job of changing the system so we didn't get good players rubbed out for innocuous incidents," Scott said.
"A jumper push to the throat is innocuous. It doesn't get much more innocuous when it comes to the MRP. Now we've got guys getting three weeks."
Redpath is only the fourth player to be suspended for at least three weeks this season, with Tom Bugg missing six weeks for striking, Bachar Houli four and Jordan Lewis three.
Geelong has lost Tom Hawkins twice this season to suspension as well as Mitch Duncan, James Parsons, Sam Menegola and Patrick Dangerfield.
Hawkins was suspended in round 11 after the AFL announced a public crackdown on jumper punches when he struck Adelaide's Matt Crouch.
Speaking immediately after that game in June, Scott expressed concern that changing tack mid-season presented a risk to the game and that a fine was the appropriate penalty.
"I don't know how anyone could possibly try to defend the position we are in, so I suspect it will be talked about a bit more and it will change," Scott said.
Buckley questioned the consistency of the MRP and warned the AFL needed to be "careful" about the way it set about penalising certain actions.
The Magpies coach was in the news recently when he described ruckman Brodie Grundy's tackle on Kangaroo Ben Brown, who was left concussed, as "perfect".
"As I said, around Brodie's suspension, it was cut and dry the way the rules were written," Buckley said.
"That's exactly how it needed to be and should have been, with the two-week penalty – we were not surprised by that at all. And you can’t challenge it, because the way the rules are written, it's really clear there's no challenge against that.
"I think there will be a few interesting discussions with the clubs and the League around where the game is going and how we can take away some of the acts we don't want to see … but not be heavy handed with some of those penalties as well, because some of them just don't add up."
Buckley also said work was potentially required on the MRP's box-ticking formula.
"Box ticking is fine if you've got the right questions asked behind it," he said.
"There's not a lot of grey area in it, and even the Redpath appeal probably shows it's fairly cut and dry.
"You don't see clubs appealing that often, because there's not a lot of wriggle room, but that's for the AFL and the footy operations to work out and they've got a tough job – there's always plenty on the agenda – so there's no doubt that will be addressed over the off-season."
