The AFL is refusing to listen to the football legend who called for a major rule change after Jy Simpkin suffered a concussion following a wild hit.

AFL boss Andrew Dillon is convinced the sending-off rule is “not on our radar” despite calls for change in the wake of St Kilda defender Jimmy Webster’s sickening hit on St Kilda co-captain North Melbourne, Jy Simpkin.

Webster faces a significant suspension on Tuesday night after being referred straight to court for the shocking hit in Sunday’s practice match that sparked calls for a suspension of up to 10 weeks and even a fine.

Brownlow medalist Gerard Healy put the idea of ​​a red card and sending off for such incidents back on the agenda, stating that the AFL was one of the few sporting codes in the world that did not have the ability to punish to the players. point.

He said the availability of an off-field referee to evaluate incidents in which opposing players were excluded from games with concussions made the potential for error, long used by the league as a reason not to institute ejections, redundant.

Despite two incidents in the last two weeks, the first involving Port Adelaide’s Sam Powell-Pepper, who received a four-week suspension, Dillon insisted such incidents were rare and that AFL rules made it It would be too difficult to throw someone off the field in the heat of the moment.

“It’s not on our radar right now,” Dillon said of an ejection system.

“There will be a substantial penalty for Jimmy Webster tonight, but he has served our game quite well, the system we have in place at the moment.

“I just think it would be a huge change and I think the other part is that fortunately these types of incidents are becoming rarer and rarer.

“The pressure it would put on who was making that decision to make it in real time… it was reviewed by the MRO yesterday for several hours, it will go to court tonight,” Powell-Pepper said. for 3.5 hours last week, so that’s how long we see the process taking to play out compared to a referee on the field or someone at the ARC making that decision.’

Dillon said the court had the opportunity to “set a precedent” for the season with the ban it granted Webster given the outcry he had caused among the community.

“I think at the beginning of the year, and particularly after the guidelines or rules have been changed, the beginning of the year sets the stage for the year,” he told SEN.

St Kilda defender Jimmy Webster concussed North Melbourne co-captain Jy Simpkin

“So the ones at the beginning of the year are really important, but they’re also important throughout the year.”

Webster’s case will be heard at 5 p.m.