AFL makes rule change proposal after Brayden Maynard and Angus Brayshaw incident

Brayden Maynard's controversial incident with Angus Brayshaw has resulted in the AFL moving to tighten its tribunal rules around smothers. Maynard was referred to the tribunal after the Collingwood defender jumped off the ground to smother a kick from Melbourne's Brayshaw in the first term of their qualifying final in September.

The smother attempt resulted in Brayshaw leaving the field concussed and it ultimately ended his season. After a marathon four-hour hearing, the Pies defender was cleared and went on to play in their grand final victory over Brisbane.

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Maynard was facing a season-ending three-game ban for his high bump on Brayshaw but was cleared after the Pies successfully argued the incident was unavoidable after Maynard leapt into the air to attempt a smother. AFL football boss Laura Kane back in September said the league felt uneasy about the case and that a review of the relevant rule governing smothers of kicks or handballs would take place post-season.

"As I said at the time, it was borne out of us not being comfortable with that situation," she said. "Equally, we were not content with the outcome ... not content with what question the tribunal had to determine or grapple with." AFL legal counsel Stephen Meade added: "We're not comfortable that ultimately that conduct and that outcome has that result, in terms of there being effectively no disciplinary penalty there for the player."

On Thursday the media were briefed on a proposed rule change that would ultimately mean once a player has left the ground in an attempt to smother the ball, they must show a greater duty of care to their opponent. "Where a player elects to leave the ground in an attempt to smother and gets the opponent high, so long as at least the impact is low ... that will be deemed to be careless," Meade said. "Then it will be careless unless a player can demonstrate they took all reasonable steps to avoid the contact or to minimise the force of the contest."

The proposal smothering rule was not the only change the tribunal put forward in an attempt to crack down on dangerous contact. Another proposed change is to crack down on run-down tackles, where a player catches an opponent from behind with so much momentum that "the tackling player significantly increased the force with which the tackled player was driven to ground".

AFL aim to reduce cases referred to the tribunal

The AFL wants to also reduce tribunal hearings as a whole, with this year's harsher penalties for dangerous tackles resulting in a spike in direct referrals to the tribunal. A total of 11 charges were labelled as severe this season, resulting in a direct referral. In comparison, last year there was only one.

The league also wants to give a charged player the option to accept a penalty in these cases, if the AFL is only seeking the minimum suspension and that option would be at the AFL's discretion. There were more than 20 proposals for the tribunal guidelines and AFL regulations floated.

Of the proposals, the most bizarre was a ban on coaches and other staff whistling "or making any other such noises". The AFL argues that these noises "interrupt the audio of match broadcasts".

- with AAP

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