Swann: The AFL's view on the national draft

Greg Swann, the AFL’s new Executive General Manager Football Performance, has explained why the MRO has taken no further action with Toby Greene.

The GWS captain was already hit with a one-match suspension for striking Sydney’s Isaac Heeney with a forearm to the back of the head during the Sydney Derby at ENGIE Stadium last Friday night.

A new incident came to light in the aftermath of that game which shows Greene kicking his leg back to the groin area of Dane Rampe after a push and shove moments earlier.

But Greene has avoided sanction for his actions with Swann explaining why the AFL’s MRO Michael Christian has decided against a further punishment.

“It has been (reviewed). ‘Chrisso’ did have a look at it,” Swann said on SEN Breakfast.

“We won’t be taking any action on it, only on the basis that he actually doesn’t connect. Whether we think that’s a thing we want in the game is a separate thing - which obviously we don’t.

“But under the table and things that we’ve got now - and that’s part of the thing I want to have a look at as well is the MRO. At the moment the MRO can only, from a penalty perspective, go upwards. It can’t come down. So it’s zero (weeks) or three.

“Some of these incidents that should get a one or a two (week ban)… you understand that you put the table together to provide consistency but there’s always outliers in footy. Sometimes they don’t fit in those boxes and that’s difficult so we’ll have a look at some of those things.

“This is probably one of those. It was a weird action for sure, but if you look at Rampe he misses him really because he doesn’t react and they just play on.”

While Swann does admit it is a very bad look, the fact that Greene barely made contact worked in his favour.

“There was no strike so it’s none, really. (But) It is a horrible look,” he added.

“But under the table at the moment you can’t (suspend him) and he’d win on appeal.

“I think there’s been a lot of those things and it is about the look of the game. Sometimes there’s almost a catch-all - he doesn’t get him and there’s no strike under the existing rules.

“But we don’t want that in the game.”

SEN's Garry Lyon is not at all a fan of these types of acts.

“It’s a horrible look. You can’t be kicking blokes and you can’t go throwing your boot back to the groin area like that,” said Lyon firmly.

“If he got a week I don’t think too many people will be upset. He should have a week but what they’re saying is the matrix would not allow for a week. I’m sure that will change.

“I can’t contend that Toby Greene gets off scot-free for that. That’s a poor, poor decision.”

Swann touched on a number of other divisive footy topics.

Read his thoughts below:

Gut punches

“Guys punching guys in the guts - give them a week (suspension)," said Swann.

“It probably has stopped a little bit but if we did that (suspend them) then it stops completely.

“Everything that happens at the elite level filters down to the juniors and you just don’t want those things (in the game).”

Draft concessions

“It’s every club on its merits.

“I haven’t seen if West Coast have applied, but if they haven’t I think they will.

“But having said that, it’s hard to rebuild with all the other concessions that are in the draft with father-sons, NGAs, northern academies.

“Under uncompromised draft rules, West Coast would have picks 1 and 19 but 19 would probably end up at 30 with all the other things that come in, free agency compensation, etc etc.

“That makes it more difficult to rebuild. So we’re having a look at that about what we can do to fix that.”

Father-son rule

“Father-sons is an interesting one. When I was at Brisbane we got three beauties - (Will and Levi Ashcroft, Jaspa Fletcher) - and it does compromise the draft.

“When you look around, it’s been amazing - Sam Darcy, the Daicos boys (Nick and Josh), Darcy Moore, the Ashcrofts, Jaspa Fletcher - there’s been some absolute rippers.

“If you didn’t have father-sons then they’d be in the draft and they’d be getting picked 1, 2 or 3, and that helps those bottom clubs get better.

“There is some discussion around that. I know some clubs have been pretty vocal about not having father-sons, but it is something we’ll have a look at trying to get fairness and equity into the draft.”

Stand rule

“We’re going to look to do what you should do when if it’s to stand you stand.

“Don’t run outside five and all that, you actually stand. That’s been widely endorsed by the clubs as well.

“It’s coming back to what we’re about - trying to make the game simpler for the umpires. There’s too many decisions.

“I don’t think the rule was designed to actually allow people to run off. If you look at the stats, the people getting off the mark are clogging the game up. That’s not what we want in that space.

“The stand should just stand.”

Sub rule

“Clubs don’t like it. We’ll have a look at that.

“It will be about the stats again, if you lose players in the first or second quarter and how that affects your ability to win games.

“Does that change if you’ve got four on the bench or five?

“I think we’ll have a look at that.”

Four umpires

“It enables some of the more experienced umpires to stay in the game longer which I think is an advantage because they just don’t have to do the running they used to.

“I think we’ll be sticking with four umpires.”

Insufficient intent

“We’ll have a look at maybe last touch from a kick or a handball between the arcs.

“They do it in the SANFL, they do it in AFLW. It’s morphing into that anyway so maybe we have a look at that as well.”

Length of game

“It will have to wait, only because people have set themselves based on certain things at the moment.

“By the time you do a boundary throw in, it takes 15 seconds, and if someone gets a free kick it takes five (seconds). There’s some footage of guys taking 20 seconds and the umpire is waiting.

“Even at the start of quarters when you’re setting up for 6-6-6, to get the two players to come to the goal square before you bounce the ball takes another 20 seconds pretty much every bounce.

“If we can get those out of the game we can make it quicker. We love that the game is played for 80 minutes but it’s all the other bits that are taking time.”

Listen to the full chat with Swann below: