A SIGNIFICANT change to the tribunal guidelines is allowing the AFL to push for a long ban for Port Adelaide’s Sam Powell-Pepper.
Powell-Pepper will front the tribunal from 10am Wednesday, with the league arguing for a suspension of no less than four weeks.
Whether Powell-Pepper could count the Power’s official pre-season practice match against Fremantle on Friday as part of any ban will be at the discretion of the AFL’s executive general manager of football.
Regardless, Port’s impact forward now sits at the mercy of a reinforced set of tribunal guidelines and a league under immense scrutiny over its approach to concussion and CTE.
In official changes to the tribunal process soon to be formally released via the 2024 guide, the AFL has cleared the way for a new watermark for reportable incidents like the Powell-Pepper bump that concussed Adelaide’s Mark Keane.
The fresh amendment makes clear that previous match review decisions or tribunal hearings have no bearing on new cases.
“In determining the classification of a reportable offence (and sanction in the case of any charge which is referred directly to the tribunal) the tribunal is not bound by any decision of the tribunal or MRO in a previous year and may reasonably exercise its discretion to impose a different classification and/or sanction than may have been imposed in previous years, having regard to (among other things) evolving community standards and an increased focus on reducing instances of avoidable, forceful high contact and preventing injuries (including concussions,” it reads.
The amendment points to a football landscape headlined by Angus Brayshaw’s medical retirement at the age of 28, the 100-player class action and Victorian coroner John Cain’s recommendations to the league which include limiting contact training sessions.
Powell-Pepper’s bump on Keane was assessed by match review officer Michael Christian as careless conduct, high contact and severe impact, triggering a three match-plus sanction and a direct appearance at the tribunal.
As part of the league’s desire to limit tribunal hearings in 2024, should a player be cited for a three-match ban, they can accept that sanction without going to the tribunal.