Richmond midfielder Reece Conca during last year's pre-season. Picture: Colleen Petch Source: Herald Sun
Sydney's Gary Rohan is stretchered off with a serious leg injury after a sliding incident at the SCG. Picture: Phil Hillyard Source: News Limited
PLAYERS suspended for offences during next year's NAB Cup will serve their ban in the home-and-away season under a series of changes to the match review panel.
The league has made several changes to the match review panel for next season, including cutting a player's poor record from three years to two and cracking down on players sliding feet-first into contests.
General manager of football operations Adrian Anderson has written to all clubs and briefed the CEO conference on the Gold Coast after the AFL Commission approved the changes on Monday.
In other changes, demerit points for misconduct will be increased to be in line with kicking offences.
Bulldogs ruckman Will Minson escaped with a reprimand after pleading guilty to stomping on Swan Kieren Jack in Round 21.
The NAB Cup loophole allowed Tiger Reece Conca to play in Round 1 this season despite being banned for three weeks for a high off-the-ball bump on North Melbourne forward Leigh Adams in the first week of the pre-season competition.
While Conca sat out the NAB Cup and played in Round 1, players suspended the previous year - including Kangaroo Jack Ziebell - were permitted to play in the NAB Cup but missed games in the season proper.
The league said the change had been made "to ensure consistency and to provide a sufficient deterrent for players not to offend".
Meanwhile, AFL bad boys will get a break at the tribunal with offences committed more than two years ago consigned to history.
Calculations for a players' poor prior tribunal record will now only take into account the previous two seasons, down from three.
A player will now only qualify for a poor record if they are suspended for two or more matches within the previous two years.
But there is more incentive to stay clean with concessions a good tribunal record extended from five years to six next season.
Carlton captain Chris Judd arrives at the AFL tribunal hearing at Docklands. Picture: Tim Carrafa Source: Herald Sun
Under the MRP system, players receive a 10 per cent loading on the demerit points value of an offence for every match they were suspended during the previous two years.
A player who has not been found guilty of any offence in the previous six seasons receives a 25 per cent deduction.
Anderson said under the previous rules it was "too easy" to qualify for a good record and three years was "too long" to carry a bad record for a single offence.
The changes don't address the issue of a good record applying even when players don't play matches - a rule former Magpie Sharrod Wellingham took advantage of this season. Wellingham claimed a 40 per cent discount for his hit on Carlton's Kade Simpson due to an early guilty plea and a five-year good record - the first of which was spent as a rookie.
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As revealed on SuperFooty yesterday, the AFL will also deal much more harshly with sliding feet first into contests and forceful contact below the knees in 2013.
Players can now be reported for both offences.
The crackdown on contact below the knees has been rapid fire.
In October, the AFL Commission announced it would tighten the forceful-contact-below-the-knees rule, informing clubs umpires would pay free kicks on the spot from next season.
Yesterday, the commission was told those rules had been further tightened to the extent that dangerous front-on contact could lead to a player being reported.
Sydney's Adam Goodes was reported for sliding into Port Adelaide's Jacob Surjan at AAMI Stadium Picture: Simon Cross Source: Sunday Mail (SA)
AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson said yesterday the crackdown was simply to protect players.
"Sliding knees or feet first can now be a reportable offence for rough conduct and forceful conduct below the knees if it's unreasonable in the circumstances," Anderson said.
"Now it's backed up as a tribunal offence.
"Players owe a duty to their opponents players."
Already players have raised concerns about how incidents and impact below the knees can be policed and in fact be avoided.
"There's always interpretations, debate and discussion and that's the part of the tribunal, but no more than anything else," Anderson said.
"PLayer welfare, that's the consistent theme."
This season the league took a strong stance against players sliding into opponents, sending a memo to clubs in May warning of the potential risk of injury.
Sydney's Gary Rohan suffered a sickening broken leg when Kangaroo Lindsay Thomas slid into him at the SCG in April.
Thomas was charged with rough conduct and initially banned for two weeks, but later cleared by the tribunal on appeal.
Charges are expected to be more common next season.
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