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Sport Nation
Why mid-season rule change would be "diabolical" for AFL
Nicholas Quinlan • May 3rd, 2025 3:49 pm
Gerard Whateley thinks that any notion to change the scale of suspension on tackles resulting in concussion mid-season would be diabolical.
This comes after Paul Curtis was suspended for three matches for what was deemed a dangerous tackle on Port Adelaide’s Josh Sinn.
North Melbourne would try to overturn the decision in the Tribunal but they were unsuccessful.
This was due to the Tribunal’s belief that Curtis did not minimise the risk of concussion enough in this incident.
On SEN’s Crunch Time, Gerard Whateley believes that a change around this needs to take place in the off-season but can also understand the frustration from some parts of the football communities.
“The frustration is really clear. Some of this is absolutely disingenuous,” Whateley said categorically.
“You cannot have a change that serious in-season. It would be diabolical if the AFL came out and said we’ll change it next week.
“And the very people who are saying they should change it right now would be going that’s just an outrage.
“And I get the frustration though. It’s not like this hadn’t said before now.”
However, Dermott Brereton was in the belief that the rules must reflect the nature of the game and thus need to be more flexible.
“Notwithstanding that, it does need to be flexible,” Brereton added.
“We’ve got a very flexible game; we need the flexibility to recognise that there’s no malice or intent to injure.
“Because with that inflexibility, we see some suspensions where there is intent to injure and that gets a lesser sentence.
“To me, in this day and age, it doesn’t make sense.”
