Fremantle coach Ross Lyon has hailed Hayden Ballantyne's not guilty verdict as a win for football, but says the AFL's match review panel needs to be given more flexibility so they can throw out such cases in the future.
Ballantyne was cleared of any wrongdoing by the tribunal on Tuesday night for his fierce bump that concussed Adelaide defender Matthew Jaensch.
Given the match review panel are forced to judge incidents using a rigid set of guidelines, they would have had no option but to slap Ballantyne with a ban if they had ruled on the case.
With this in mind, the MRP referred the case directly to the tribunal, which has more flexibility to decide on contentious issues.
Lyon said it was the right move.
"It's self-evident that they are a bit hamstrung and they are a bit uncomfortable dealing with these sorts of situations where there is a perceived bump involved but they are competing for the ball," the Fremantle coach said on Wednesday.
"If there's going to be a review, they need some flexibility in their gradings and interpretations.
"We're all just looking for some consistency of interpretation.
"As much as I think they may have wanted to say (Ballantyne) was contesting the ball - like the decision's been made - (the MRP) haven't got the scope for that.
"So therefore they did the right thing and referred it to the tribunal."
The AFL's crackdown on head-high contact for players choosing to bump instead of tackle has resulted in a host of contentious decisions.
Melbourne's Jack Viney was handed a two-match ban earlier this year before the decision was overturned at the AFL appeals board, while Dockers midfielder Nat Fyfe was unlucky to be suspended for his hip-and-shoulder that floored Gold Coast's Michael Rischitelli.
Just this week, Sydney's Lance Franklin was cleared by the MRP despite unleashing a high bump on Clay Cameron.
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