AFL announces change for Tribunal in 2020

[one-eyed]

The governance of the AFL Tribunal will move from the Football Operations Department to form part of the AFL Legal Department led by AFL General Counsel Andrew Dillon, ensuring the Tribunal function operates separately to the Match Review Officer and the General Manager Football Operations.

AFL General Manager Football Operations Steve Hocking said the time was right to recognise the distinction between the Match Review Officer’s disciplinary classifications and the separate processes of the independent Tribunal hearing of challenges to those classifications.

AFL Tribunal process for 2020:

* Following the review of each report or referral, the MRO in conjunction with the AFL General Manager Football Operations will determine whether a Player is to be charged with a Reportable Offence.

* Once charged, if a Player elects to contest a charge at the Tribunal, the formal request and process will be managed by the AFL Legal Department.

* As per the process in 2019, a Player or the AFL may appeal the decision of the Tribunal to the Appeals Board.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-11-14/afl-announces-change-for-tribunal-in-2020

[tdy]

The whole problem with the tribunal is the conflicting pressures between keeping stars on the park for audiences and managing punishment for serious infractions.  They have for many years taken the wrong path of suspending players. This always will run into the commercial and fan conflict. The solution is obvious punish on the day with things that effect the game. 50m worked brilliantly at removing unwanted behaviour.  If they wish to go one step up then sin bins and being a man down or 100m or an auto goal.  But punish in the game the infringement occurred not after. So obvious to me but not the AFL so Dangerfield gets a week for a hard tackle that was legal a couple of weeks before and Cotch and Barry Hall get off because the next game is the grand final. Imagine if regardless how it happened deliberate or not a concussion by Cotch on that GWS player got 10 min sin bin.  Probably a fair result.
That would leave genuine run throughs and punches to be suspended. Hard tackles lead to sin bins. Only the malicious gets suspended