IN THE wake of James Kelly's two game suspension for rough conduct against Brendon Goddard, debate has raged about the bump, and its future in the game. Here are some of the more prominent reactions.

"I don't think it's dead but they're trying to remove the unnecessary injuries from footy – the collision injuries which they could potentially avoid. Footy's never going to be like it was 20 years ago or 30 years ago and some people will argue that's a good thing and some people will say that physicality, that hitting of bodies is what certain people want to see.

"But to attract young people to our game I think we need to avoid the potential injuries associated with collision[s]. The game's in good shape, I think it's moving in the right direction, we're gong to make some little mistakes along the way with decisions that we make in trying to make the game safer, but we'll eventually get it right."
Brenton Sanderson, Adelaide coach

"You're told you've got a responsibility as a player when you approach a contest and that's what the players have learned to work around and live by. There's always probably that grey area where it can go either way and that's [the James Kelly incident] probably one of those situations."
Simon Black, Brisbane Lions midfielder

"There is just too much risk in it .. just don't bump, that is the safest way. The Match Review Panel isn't perfect. The umpiring department isn't perfect. The game isn't perfect. We still see a lot of physicality in the game ... we're in a bit of transition and let it settle. Things are going okay."
Nathan Buckley, Collingwood coach

"I think there is still a place for the bump.It's just you have got to time it perfectly and if you go outside that you could be in a bit of strife. It's almost as though you have to play inside the rules and then some. You don't want to be too conservative but at the same time you don't want to have two weeks off like James Kelly has now."
Jarryd Blair, Collingwood forward
James Kelly, Geelong midfielder, following his tribunal hearingBrendon Goddard, Essendon midfielder, on WednesdaySteven Morris, Richmond defender

Taylor Walker, injured Adelaide forwardJoel Selwood, Geelong captainCameron Mooney, former Geelong forward

"It says to us all as players - don't bump. That was as fair, as clean a bump as I've seen this year, and he's been given two weeks. So maybe Joel Selwood's right in saying on Twitter "the bump is dead". It's just almost eliminating any type of bump now because often when there's that contact, there's the whiplash reaction and often through that there might be some contact from the body to the head. It's making you think twice when you enter a contest. They've eliminated part of what makes our game unique and great.
Drew Petrie, North Melbourne forward on AFL Exchange

Every bump has the potential to cause injury now. I'm really bewildered by this decision. I think he's pretty stiff, James Kelly. Lindsay Thomas can consider himself the luckiest man in AFL at the moment. He got off because initial contact was shoulder to chest.
Dermott Brereton on SEN, former Hawthorn champion

"Forget the hysterics. The bump is not dead. As long as you don't hit players in the head, as Eddie Betts knows only too well. The facts are, Kelly hit Goddard in the head. As Judge Judy once said, don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining."
Kevin Bartlett on SEN, former Richmond champion and member of the AFL's Laws of the Game committee

"I think all of us when we go to the football love to see fair collisions and people competing hard. There's a bit in all of us that loves a fair bump. That will probably stay in the game, but that is a grey area. The game's played at a frightening speed now, and if someone slows down a little bit or turns their body a certain way or leaves a limb hanging out there it can end up in someone getting a suspension.
 
"The last thing we want is people getting hurt so let the rule-makers keep adjudicating the game and we'll play it. It's pretty difficult sometimes for players to know how to position themselves. The reality is, if you hit somebody in the head now you get done.
 
"You want physical things in the game. We're talking about one centimetre between being legal to a couple of centimetres and being illegal."
Brendan McCartney, Western Bulldogs coach