‘The system needs fixing’: Footy fans BLAST AFL tribunal after Mitch Robinson cops one-match ban

Footy fans have taken to Twitter to blast the AFL tribunal’s ‘inconsistent’ approach following a marathon hearing on Tuesday night.

After an action-packed round one, the tribunal was tasked with judging whether one-match bans against Willie Rioli, Rory Sloane and Mitch Robinson should be upheld following appeals from their respective clubs.

Rioli was in hot water for a brutal bump on Gold Coast’s Matt Rowell during the Eagles’ opening round defeat on Sunday, Adelaide skipper Sloane made contact with Blake Acres’s eye while Robinson was involved in a collision with Xavier Duursma which left the Port star with an injured collarbone. 

The Brisbane Lions star copped the suspension for a collision with Port’s Xavier Duursma

And after a lengthy deliberation, Rioli and Sloane saw their sanctions overturned, with the latter made to pay a $2,000 fine, while Robinson’s one-game suspension was upheld.

The decision regarding Rioli garnered the most attention, with the returning 26-year-old barreling into Rowell and causing him to heavily fall to the turf in an ugly collision. 

The tribunal argued that Rioli did not breach his ‘duty of care’ towards Rowell and was contesting possession of the ball, meaning there was no intention to harm the Suns midfielder.

However, West Coast’s Willie Rioli saw his ban overturned for this brutal bump on Matt Rowell 

However, footy fans have called for the system to be ‘fixed’ after taking issue with the tribunal’s reasoning on Tuesday.

‘Absolute joke,’ one Twitter user posted. ‘Read the room, you got all 3 tonight wrong.’

‘Outrageous and dangerous precedent set,’ another wrote. ‘Either both get off or neither. If you want to protect players from lifelong concussion symptoms and spinal injuries… time to GET REAL. You must overturn Rioli decision AFL.’ 

‘What the actual…? Two astonishing decisions. You can not be taken seriously @AFL.’

AFL supporters say the ‘system needs fixing’ after lashing out at the tribunal’s decisions

‘So this gets punished by [but] Rioli’s doesn’t? Joke of a sport.’ While another fan simply posted: ‘Consistently inconsistent.’  

It is not just AFL fans that have given the tribunal flak for tonight’s decisions, with Richmond star Jack Riewoldt hitting out at the calls. 

‘Jumping off the ground, I know that he’s gone to protect himself probably and has caught Rowell high,’ he said on AFL 360. 

‘I did the pub test walking down and sort of sussed a few people out up the top here and I thought it was a week, but clearly it’s not.

‘It’s a dangerous precedent to be setting in Round 1 – I shouldn’t say dangerous, an interesting precedent.’

‘The priority should always be to protect the guy going for the footy, and I think that’s a pretty dangerous action,’ Essendon gun Zach Merrett added.

‘My understanding at the moment would be that that would be a week, but it’s a big call and I’m sure that’ll set a precedent moving forward.’