The AFL has put its players on notice: punch an opponent in the stomach or head and you will be suspended.
Whether it be a jumper punch like the one thrown by Richmond's Trent Cotchin or a gut punch like the one employed by North Melbourne's Ben Cunnington - the AFL has drawn a line in the sand.
"My view as head of football is that I don't like the current practice of on-field punches by players," AFL football boss Simon Leathlean told reporters on Tuesday.
"I'm strong in that view and as of this weekend's matches players and clubs are on notice that we won't tolerate it going forward.
"If players are going to take the action of punching a player they do so at their own risk now.
"Make no mistake, they're on notice about that."
Lethlean had forecast changes to match review panel guidelines after several players, including Cotchin and Cunnington, controversially escaped with fines for recent transgressions.
After further review, the league feels the MRP already has the framework to suspend players for such punches with stricter interpretation and classification.
"The MRP is well aware of my views and the views of the AFL on this (but) we also don't believe we need to make any changes to the rules or the guidelines for the MRP to implement our views going forward," Lethlean said.
"It's a tough job and the broad performance of the MRP has been strong over the last two or three years.
"They have my full faith and support but players and clubs are on notice that we will not accept on-field punches of the nature that we've seen over the last few weeks.
"We're resetting and making that clear to players moving forward.
"I think there's been some line-ball decisions in the last few weeks where the player has received the benefit of the doubt and going forward they won't."
Lethlean said umpires had also been instructed to be more vigilant in paying free kicks and 50m penalties for such incidents.
Debate has raged about the topic after a resurgence in punches many felt was caused by soft penalties.
Speaking before Lethlean announced the league's new stricter interpretation, Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley said he would be happy to see the AFL stamp jumper punches out of the game.
"Absolutely, I'd like to see clarity," he said on Tuesday.
"I think the AFL are in the process of doing that and I'm in the camp that a punch is a cheap shot, so remove the cheap shots from the game."
Melbourne captain Nathan Jones said individual cases should continue to be judged on their merits but jumper punches should be placed in the same category as any other striking offences.
"If you put a suspension on it, I guarantee you're going to limit players doing it," he told radio station RSN927.
"I don't think there's any doubt about that."
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