AFL News for the week ending April 9, 2023: Blues and Tiges big men in focus, Kingsley defends Cogs and McCartin knock keeps concussion discussion in play
Blues and Tiges big men in focus
If a close loss to the Bulldogs wasn't bad enough for Tiges fans, the additional potential loss of key forward Tom Lynch is the salt in the wound.
Lynch was cited for a collision with Alex Keath in Saturday's game, who left the game concussed and was unable to return, which means he will miss next week's massive clash with Port Adelaide.
If Lynch is referred to the tribunal, which looks likely, he may face a three-week ban, something the Tigers could do without if they want to revive their already flagging season.
And the Blues might be relying solely on Coleman leader Charlie Curnow as the other twin tower in the forward line for the Blues - Harry McKay - was offered an automatic week on the sidelines for striking North Melbourne's Harry Sheezel.
The Blues look set to fight it at the tribunal, though, and Harry playing next week might come down to comparing the McKay incident to the recent Charlie Ballard tribunal case.
Kingsley defends Cogs
Just when you though the dissent rule had settled...think again!
We all know coaches love to defend their players in all kinds of situations, and this week the Giants Adam Kingsley stood tall for one of his stars, Stephen Coniglio.
Coniglio was penalised for what many saw as a somewhat controversial dissent incident.
Umpire's boss Dan Richardson came out and defended this after, saying Cogs was penalised because of an accumulative set of incidents during the match.
This left Adam Kingsley fuming as he came out during the week and defended his man.
We all want respect for umpires, and keeping a lid on over-the-top dissent is one way of ensuring this respect is in place at all levels of football, but Kingsley's defence of Cogs is also understandable.
Let's hope this doesn't become an issue in the game and the right balance is struck between players being able to express themselves and umpires not putting up with too much pushback.
Swans handle Paddy with care
Few AFL fans would be unaware of Paddy McCartin's history with concussion and head knocks, and sadly for him and his side it has raised its ugly head again when McCartin was subbed out just minutes into the game against Port on Saturday night.
This is potentially McCartin's tenth concussion, and while it was hard watching a clearly emotional McCartin on the bench, heavy cred to the Swans for being super careful with him.
Will there ever be an answer to how to manage concussion in our game given the speed and power we love it to occur at?
Let's hope so - we want our best players to play their best but also finish up with as few issues as possible related to injuries sustained, especially when it comes to head knocks.
Heal well Paddy.