Garry Lyon believes the AFL has lost the right to claim they want to take striking out of the game.
In the wake of Andrew Gaff’s huge ban for punching Andrew Brayshaw, the AFL claimed they would be cracking down on strikes in order to stamp it out of the game.
However, Richmond champion Dustin Martin was fined $1750 for striking for the third time in the last two years on the weekend.
Lyon believes it proves the AFL is tolerating the behaviour more than they are cracking down on it.
“Don’t ever come back to us and tell us you’re taking striking seriously again as they did about a year or two ago,” he told SEN Breakfast.
“’Oh we want to stamp out striking, it’s a bad look for the game, it sends a really bad message’ – that is disingenuous rot from the AFL.
“They’re not stamping it out, they’re condoning it.
“So, Dusty went for the third time in two years for striking on the weekend. Just punched (Tom Rockliff) in the throat – and okay it wasn’t that hard, but is that what you want?
“Okay, if that was his first time then I can accept not enough force, but it’s the third time in two years for striking and hasn’t missed a game.
“I’m not going to go on about it, but don’t ever come back and say ‘oh the look of the game is important to us and we want to stamp out striking’ because that is just rot. Unmitigated rot.”
Martin is free to take on Gold Coast on Monday and remains eligible for the Brownlow Medal.