Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin says the bump as we know it is dead and he's discouraged his players from bringing it out in games.
Goodwin’s forward Kysaiah Pickett received a two-game suspension for a bump that floored Bulldog Bailey Smith, who was able to get up and play out the game.
Pickett elected to not go for the ball and instead caught Smith in the action of kicking.
Speaking on Tuesday morning, Goodwin said he’s informed his players to tackle instead of bump going forward.
“It was obviously an incident that we don’t like to see… I’m certainly not going to talk to him about the way he plays,” Goodwin stated.
Pickett has been put on report for this late hit on Bailey Smith.
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“I love the pressure that he puts on and I love the pressure that he plays with.
“But I did speak to our playing group and Kozzie was involved in that about the bump. There’s no element in the game where we should be bumping.
“That’s the message I’ve given to our playing group, it just puts you in a situation you don’t want to be in.
“We certainly won’t be encouraging our players to bump. We want them to tackle, we want them to play tough contested footy, but that’s one element of the game we’ve got to get right.”
Pickett finished as one of Melbourne’s best playing in a 40-point win over the Bulldogs, gathering nine coaches votes for his 19-disposal, four-goal performance despite his incident in the second term.
The 21-year-old had his bump graded as careless conduct, high impact and high contact.
His case was one of a number of suspensions handed out by Match Review Officer Michael Christian. In a time where the head has become sacrosanct in the AFL, it was a bad look for the game.
Goodwin was also asked if the bump is dead as we know it.
“From my perspective, I think it is, yeah,” he responded.
“I think there’s always the way you use your body with your shoulder in contest situations, but not in a bumping sense.
“I think our game is about tackling, there’s no need to bump. I think it is dead.”
Shane McAdam was sent straight to the tribunal for his bump on Jacob Wehr, while Lance Franklin received a one-game suspension for an errant elbow.
Pickett has accepted his ban and will miss games against Brisbane and Sydney.