There has already been plenty of discussion about the aftermath of a last-quarter incident in Thursday night’s Richmond versus Port Adelaide match at the MCG.
Power pair Tom Jonas and Zak Butters were involved in a sickening head clash which left both players bloodied and in need of treatment on the bench.
Captain Jonas had a cut above his right eye and spent eight minutes on the bench while Butters received a nasty gash on his right cheek, spending almost six and a half minutes receiving treatment.
The duo, who appeared wobbly after the heavy collision, came back on the field with many questioning why they were not put through concussion tests.
Coach Ken Hinkley defended his club and experienced doctor Mark Fisher when questioned in his post-match press conference.
Hinkley said: “Are you questioning a doctor of 25 years’ experience that he made a wrong decision?
“Do you think a doctor of 25 years would take a risk with concussion with the seriousness of injuries that go on now with concussion?
“I gather there’d be some conversation around the collision but people get cuts in football and don’t get concussion.
“I’ve got a doctor who has been with our footy club for 25 years. The conservation between our doctor and our football manager during the game was these boys have got no issue with concussion.
“If anyone has got a challenge on that and they feel more qualified than Mark Fisher who is a 25-year AFL doctor, feel free, but I think you want to be really sure that you’re not trying to make calls from outside the fence when you’ve got no knowledge.
“We’ve got a very experienced doctor who has the utmost respect in the AFL.”
Having spoken to the club on Friday morning, former Port midfielder Kane Cornes gave some insight into what happened on the bench, especially after Trent Dumont had already been subbed out of the game.
“I’ve just spoken to the club and I can give you a bit of an insight into how it happened last night,” Cornes said on SEN Breakfast.
“They had a contingency plan after they saw the issue. We’re going to be two players down, we’ve already used our sub, how are we going to slow the game down and slow our ball movement down?
“That’s what started to happen with the discussion between Ken Hinkley upstairs and those on the bench. After a few minutes Mark Fisher said, ‘well they’re not concussed, it’s just a cut, they’ve both just got a cut’.
“If there’s any thought that there was pressure from Ken Hinkley to put the players back on, it’s completely inaccurate.
“They don’t expect that the AFL will investigate this. Clearly they put their faith and trust in the doctors. They are fully supportive of the doctor who has been there for 25 years.
“The words are, if they’re not happy with the process then the AFL should change it.”
Cornes added: “Butters was off or 6:20 and Jonas for eight (minutes).
“How many concussions would Mark Fisher have diagnosed in his 25 years? Thousands of them.
“It wouldn’t just be automatic that every head knock, you’re in concussion (protocols). There would be a triage process where they look at the cues and think this needs further investigation or it doesn’t.”
To add further support to how Port handled things, ex-Power player and Richmond coach Damien Hardwick had his say.
“I don’t think there’s a sport in the world that looks after their players as well as AFL,” he said.
“From our point of view, I’ve known those doctors for many, many years at Port Adelaide and like our guys they’re all first-class.
“They would never put a player at risk, no question.
“They make a quick assessment and that’s what they do, that’s what they’re paid to do, and they put them back (on).”
For the record, the Tigers beat the Power by 12 points in a gritty affair.