In the midst of ongoing debate surrounding the head-high bump in the AFL, former Collingwood Scott Pendlebury has flagged a potential solution that may deter players from engaging in "non-football actions".
Following three incidents over the course of round one involving Kysaiah Pickett, Lance Franklin and Shane McAdam, the Match Review Officer (MRO) has been in work overload, determining sufficient punishments for their actions.
Melbourne will be without Pickett for rounds two and three (two-week suspension) for his hit on Western Bulldogs' Bailey Smith while Sydney will miss Franklin for their upcoming clash against Hawthorn (one-week suspension).
Adelaide and McAdam will learn his fate on Monday night once the MRO have deliberated a decision.
MORE: AFL Injury List 2023 - Your club's full list of casualties
Despite plenty of uproar and frustration amongst former players and commentators about the penalties given, Pendlebury believes the AFL could look at rival code, NRL, for inspiration when dealing with this actions during the game.
"Watching the NRL, when that stuff happens, they get sin-bin and I don't mind that for our game," Pendlebury said on Triple M.
"Say, if Pickett was to get sin-bin, so it's a complete disadvantage. Now you play 17 v 18 for 10-15 minutes."
The six-time All-Australian believes that the AFL and MRO should be treating the bumps differently and that the intention should be penalised, not outcome.
"Ours is all outcome based," the 35-year-old said on Monday.
"I think for years there's been a question around are we going to punish the outcome or the action.
"I don't agree with that. I think it should be the action that gets punished. They are not football actions.
"I think it's something we need to get rid of from our game but this chat has been going on for five, six years.
"We're getting there but there's still room to improve."
AFL journalist Tom Browne noted the potential pros and cons of introducing the sin-bin to the league on Monday.
On a more positive note, Pendlebury declared how much he is enjoying his new-found freedom as another player on the Collingwood list and not a captain or part of the leadership group whilst acknowledging it was a great time to hand over the reins to Darcy Moore.
"The stage of my life, I've got kids and school and I want to be there for drop off and pick up," the former skipper said.
"I'm getting to realise how much time I'm getting back for my family and for me. I get to worry a little bit more about myself, and you know I'm 35 and I'm trying to kind of squeeze the lemon as much as I can to get as much out of myself.
"He's (Moore) been in the leadership group for a couple years and he's a great figure ahead of the club now and he speaks really well, handles himself really well.
"I think I've had my time in the sun in that role. Done nine or ten years...I felt it's a good time too hard over to Darce and then be able to support [him]."
Moore opened up his account on Friday night as the Pies were super impressive in their 2023 round one clash against reigning premiers Geelong, taking down the Cats by 23 points at the MCG.
Collingwood unveiled three out of their four new recruits, with Tom Mitchell and Bobby Hill starring while Dan McStay played a vital role in the win.
The black-and-white army will be in full force on Saturday afternoon, when their team hosts Port Adelaide at the MCG.
