MITCHELL JOHNSON: Gold Coast’s Malcolm Rosas Jr elbow to head should get harsher penalty than Cameron tackle

What is going on with the “toughest” sport in Australia?

It’s hard to tell whether the AFL has lost the plot or they are just trying to protect themselves with this week’s three-week tackle bans of Brisbane’s Charlie Cameron and Greater Western Sydney’s Toby Bedford.

It was only three weeks ago a smooth-talking Patrick Dangerfield got off with doing the exact same thing, so why is it one rule for some and not for others?

An then we see Gold Coast’s Malcolm Rosas Jr deliberately elbow an opponent to the back of the head off the ball and he only gets one match! It was even graded as “intentional conduct” but the punishment certainly didn’t fit the crime.

What a shocking mixed message this week’s match review and tribunal findings offered up. It is ridiculous that a normal football act such as a tackle can suffer three times the penalty of something like an elbow behind the play.

The AFL need to forget their suspension matrix and start judging incidents on the action rather than the consequences.

In the meantime, the league is coping it left, right and centre and rightly so.

While I grew up in Townsville with rugby league, I agree with the majority of past players and fans who have been lifelong lovers of Aussie rules and who are worried about where the game is heading.

Tackling is a huge part of the game. We all understand that protection of the head is important and has become a major focus.

At the same time, we can’t forget this is a physical sport and things happen. You simply can’t stop every accident; you can’t be thinking what if this happens or that happens.

In all contact sports players are taught to not go in half-hearted, to fully commit to what you’re trying to achieve. In this case, a tackle. If you go in half-heartedly, you put yourself at more risk.

In cricket terms it’s the same thing. As a batsman, you have to fully commit to playing the short ball. There is a chance you could be hit, but if you fully commit to it, you have less chance of injury.

All I know is when you play sport, any sport, you are taking a risk. And as a professional player in any sport, it’s no different apart from the skill level. There’s still a risk you take when you sign your contract. Injuries can and unfortunately will happen.

With so much talk around concussion, it is taking away from parts of the game that are important and exciting to watch. There’s a double standard at play too. The AFL loves to show how tough the game is in their ads and promotion of the game – the big hits, the speccy standing on someone’s head.

In rugby league we tune in to see all the skills of the game, but how good are the big hits! We want to see that contact, it’s a part of the game.

Same with cricket when a bowler is making the batsman uncomfortable and gives them a rib tickler or a hit on the body, it adds some excitement to the game.

All sports have become more aware of safety and that’s a good thing. In cricket it’s using better equipment but what the sport hasn’t done is take away the short ball.

Moving forward, the AFL might have to consider having a clear clause in players’ contracts about the risks in the game. I always thought that was something as an athlete you signed up for anyway. You know the risks involved.

The AFL has a significant problem on its hands because the things that footballers have been taught to do their whole lives are now being brought into question. If you play instinctively, do what you’ve been taught to do, tackle and something happens and a player bumps his head on the ground, you are rubbed out for three weeks.

The league risks not only losing fans, but the support of its own players – the biggest promotional tool the AFL has.

I don’t know how the players are expected to constantly adjust to the moving goalposts, or how they can be expected to back the AFL and promote the new direction of the game.

What’s next, a ban on the speccy because the risk of a knee into an opponent’s head is too great?