ESSENDON coach and former AFL operations manager Brad Scott wants a review of the League's Tribunal system, calling it too punitive.
The Bombers will be without Harrison Jones for Saturday's annual Dreamtime At the 'G match against Richmond, after the tall forward became the latest player to be suspended this season under the AFL's crackdown on dangerous tackles.
Jones' tackle of North Melbourne opponent Zac Fisher earned him a one-game ban.
Scott said the Bombers wanted to take the case to the Tribunal, bringing in a King's Counsel and a biomechanist to look at the case, but they would be challenging on principle alone and with no chance of success.
"We're very disappointed ... I talk all the time about controlling the things you can control, and I'm a coach, not a King's Counsel or biomechanist," Scott said on Wednesday.
"Unfortunately the advice from the experts was that under the way the rules are written and the way the Tribunal operates, there was zero per cent chance of getting the charge overturned.
"We don't think it was something Harry Jones should have been suspended for, but the way the system is ... at the moment, we didn't feel we had any realistic chance."
Scott, who was in charge of football operations at the AFL before taking over as coach at Essendon last year, said the Bombers will call for a review of the match review and Tribunal system at the end of the season.
"We feel like we're having both arms tied behind our back," he said.
"Our fans need to understand the Tribunal isn't an 'innocent until proven guilty' system, it's a 'guilty, unless you can prove you're innocent' system.
"There is a strong deterrent in place to challenge MRO decisions ... I also have an acute understanding of how the system works and it makes it very difficult, the way it is at the moment.
"You don't want every single case just being challenged on a whim, but we feel it's too punitive at the moment to challenge."
Jones' ban means Nate Caddy, Essendon's top draft pick last November at No.10, will make his AFL debut.
The 18-year-old has impressed in his start to the VFL season, booting eight goals in eight VFL games this year, including three two-goal matches.
At 193cm and with a strong vertical leap, Caddy is a threat in the air and on the ground, having booted 25 goals in nine Coates Talent League matches in 2023.
Scott is confident Sam Durham will also line-up in the Dreamtime match, despite his ankle injury against North.
While Essendon will start strong favourites against the injury-ravaged Tigers, Scott noted Richmond's one win this season is against top side Sydney.
"People pretty conveniently forget ... Richmond beat them, a week after we played Sydney in Sydney and thought they were the premier team in the competition at that stage," he said.
"Richmond still have a lot of quality, really good personnel."
