Geelong premiership forward Cameron Mooney believes players are no longer “bracing for contact”, with Richmond’s Rhyan Mansell set to receive a ban for his bump that left Fremantle’s James Aish concussed.
Mansell and Aish were involved in a heavy collision in the fourth quarter of Richmond’s win over the Dockers, with Aish coming into possession of the ball before colliding with Mansell a split second after.
Aish came from the ground and didn’t return to the match, with his Head Impact Assessment seeing him enter concussion protocols.
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The Match Review Officer will decide whether Mansell was contesting the ball and was doing so in a reasonable way.
If he finds Mansell was not contesting the ball, he likely would’ve elected to bump, resulting in a reportable offence.
Should he be reported, impact is likely to be at least high and potentially severe.
A finding of careless conduct with high contact and high impact would result in a two-match ban, while severe impact would result in a ban of at least three matches and a direct referral to the AFL Tribunal.
“This is a 50-50 football act that’s going to happen in our game,” Mooney said on Fox Footy of the Mansell-Aish incident.
“The problem with players now in today’s game in my belief is they are not bracing for the contact anymore because we are so gone the other way of protecting players, which we should.
“In our day – and I hate saying that – that’s both players bracing for each other and making contact because they both know what’s coming.
“Nowadays, players are going ‘Players aren’t allowed to hit me anymore, I’m free to go at it how I want.’”
Mooney said Aish should’ve braced himself for contact, adding most players “almost have the blinkers on” in general play given they assume they are protected by the rules of the game.
Aish will miss next week’s match against Greater Western Sydney under HIA protocol.
Richmond has matches against St Kilda, Brisbane and Sydney over the next month.
