Brown urges AFL MPR to be consistent

AFL hardman Jonathan Brown says he has no problem with North Melbourne forward Lindsay Thomas escaping suspension for his controversial bump on Collingwood’s Ben Reid – but urged the match review panel to be consistent.

Thomas was cleared of rough conduct after Reid was forced off the field with a bloodied mouth and concussion in the third quarter on Sunday, sparking a war of words between rival coaches Nathan Buckley and Brad Scott.

Brisbane Lions co-captain Brown had no issue with Thomas escaping a charge, saying it was a good thing that the panel had set an early precedent.

“As long as the match review panel is consistent throughout the season,” he said.

“They have shown what their stance is in round one which is a good thing.

“Everyone knows where they stand now.

“As long as they are consistent for the rest of the season the players won’t have an issue with it.”

Buckley said Thomas “got away with one” after the panel ruled the collision was outside his control.

Brownlow Medallist Gerard Healy also voiced his disapproval, even urging new AFL football operations manager Mark Evans to lodge an appeal on behalf of the AFL over the decision.

“His first job as the footy ops manager should be to rescind the ruling on the Thomas-Reid bump,” Healy told Fox Footy’s On the Couch.

“Absolutely (I want him to appeal it), if that is allowed to go through the whole footy world will be totally confused and the next time it happens where are we going to go?”

But Brown did not believe it had created confusion – yet.

“It was always going to be a 50-50 one, but at the end of the day it was a head clash and we move on,” he said.

“Confusion only comes in when there are inconsistencies with the judgments.

“It is only round one so there is no confusion now. It’s when things start changing around that’s when confusion is created for coaches, players and fans.”

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