AFL Match Review Panel member Jimmy Bartel believes the lack of a rule change is going to make it hard for the panel to judge punching cases differently.
Last week AFL football operations manager Simon Lethlean said the league would begin to crack down on punching across the competition, but failed to change any parameters to the current MRP guidelines.
The panel will have their first chance to stamp out punching on Monday, after Sydney's Zak Jones connected with Hawthorn's Luke Breust in the third quarter on Friday night.
Zak Jones made contact with Luke Breust in this incident. #AFLSwansHawks pic.twitter.com/S1h4dyhYz8
— AFL (@AFL) May 26, 2017
While the incident provides the panel with an opportunity to set a tone for the remainder of the season, Bartel admits it could be quite hard given the rules haven't been changed.
โIf you donโt change the parameters Iโm not sure what weโre supposed to do,โ Bartel told RSN 927 on Monday.
โTo get it up to weeks well then youโve got to manufacture something on the table.
โWe might have to, itโs almost opening up a case, and this is hypothetically, where weโve got to escalate it there which makes it really open to challenge.โ
The Jones incident looks similar to one involving North Melbourne's Ben Cunnington last weekend, with the Kangaroos midfielder escaping with just a fine.
Under the current panel guidelines, Jones would likely receive just a fine for the incident, as it would be judged as a low impact grading.
Bartel said the panel need to change their thinking, and start making decisions based on the incident at hand.
โI think previously people would have liked the MRP ... to be in favour of the players but clearly they donโt want it to be,โ Bartel said.
