THE MATCH Review Panel must be revamped to eradicate the 'incongruous'penalties that the points loading system produces, North Melbourne coach BradScott says.
Scott contrasted the two-match penalty Adelaide's ShaunMcKernan received this week for striking West Coast's Brad Sheppard with anelbow to the head with the three-week penalty North vice-captain JackZiebell was given for his bump on Crow Jarryd Lyons in round nine.
McKernan's strike was assessed as warranting a three-matchban under the MRP points system, but his suspension was reduced to two matchesafter he received a 25 per cent points reduction for entering a guilty plea.
However, Ziebell's ban for his bump on Lyon was upped fromtwo to three matches because his previous poor record carried a 50 per centpoints loading.
Scott said he was concerned players like Ziebell who made"split-second decisions" when attacking the ball were being harshlydealt with by the MRP.
"They probably should get rubbed out if it's a recklessaction, but I don't think they should have to carry loading for a period oftime because it's incongruous at the moment to look at some of the findings andsuggest that Jack Ziebell got a three-week suspension for his incident andShaun McKernan got two," Scott said on Wednesday.
"I know you can talk about loading and all these thingsbut I mean it's just not right.
"It's not right that we're losing players for two weeksfor a pretty serious incident and Lindsay Thomas for a head-butt, which heshould have got a week for stupidity, but he got two because of his loading.
"It's not right at the moment, I think Mark Evans iswell aware of that and I think there will be some changes at the end of theyear.
"How sweeping I'm not sure, but I think it's clear thatthere needs to be some change."
Scott's suggestion McKernan was lucky to escape with atwo-week suspension echoed his twin brother and Geelong coach Chris Scott's comments on Monday night.
The Cats boss told Fox Footy's On The Couch program hethought Match Review Panel members should go from part-time to full-timeemployees.
"I think they should be meeting after every game andgoing through the game forensically, making sure they cover off all thebases.
"To get together for a couple of hours on Mondaymorning, I think does a disservice to the game."
But the North Melbourne coach said he was not concerned at whetherMatch Review Panel members worked part-time or full-time, just that they did athorough job.
"I'm not concerned at the number of hours they work,I'm just concerned that they do a comprehensive job," Scott said.
"It takes as long as it takes and if they need to spendmore time on it, so be it.
"I just think as long as it's a comprehensive look atthe games everyone will be happy with that."
Nick Bowen is a reporter with AFL Media. Follow him onTwitter @AFL_Nick
