RETIRED Geelong Brownlow medallist and former Match Review Panel member Jimmy Bartel says the AFL's judiciary system remains a work in progress.
Bartel was the most publicly vocal MRP member during his tenure, but quit this week because of business commitments away from football. Fellow former players Nathan Burke, Michael Christian, Jason Johnson and Michael Jamison remain on the MRP.
Bartel said on 3AW on Friday night that he was "a little bit uncomfortable" with the box-ticking formula that determined the penalty for AFL footballers' indiscretions.
The 33-year-old regularly discussed his thoughts on how the MRP could work differently throughout the season.
In May, on RSN927, he said it would be "great" if football and non-football acts were split into separate categories.
"By that I mean when you're trying to execute a football act and something goes wrong, as we talk about sling tackles or shepherding, spoiling – it's graded in a certain way," Bartel said.
"Things like punching are not a part of our game, so obviously that table would be significantly higher … which is, I think, what people want."
Bartel weighed in on the topical issue of dangerous tackles in his first interview after leaving his MRP job. The Cats' reigning Brownlow medallist Patrick Dangerfield and Collingwood ruckman Brodie Grundy were both suspended for such tackles in recent rounds.
"Those actions (like sling tackles) do happen, and they can be looked at a little bit more leniently. That’s probably where your fines come into play," Bartel told 3AW.
"I like the idea that if you concuss someone in a tackle, you receive a fine. If you do it a second time, the fine increases, and if you do it a third time, then maybe you need to sit out a week."
The two most-talked-about cases out of round 21 involved Greater Western Sydney forward Toby Greene and Western Bulldog Jack Redpath.
Greene escaped with a $1,500 fine for his kick to Bulldog Luke Dahlhaus' face as he caught a handball, while Redpath unsuccessfully appealed a two-match ban for striking Giant Phil Davis and copped an extra week.
Bartel said the Greene incident was one the MRP members had "never seen before", but the misconduct classification was correct.
Redpath's suspension came with loading because of a poor record. Bartel said players should "learn from their mistakes", but clubs should be able to appeal without always risking further penalty.
He suggested one option was for clubs to put up some sort of financial bond that would be lost if the appeal was unsuccessful.
"We can’t have something whereby every time the MRP puts something up, every single club would just appeal it straight away if there were no repercussions for appealing," Bartel said.
