Melbourne Demons coach Simon Goodwin says the bump in AFL is dead and he has instructed his players to avoid it altogether.
Goodwin says he addressed the playing group following the Demons' 50-point win against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night when gun forward Kysaiah Pickett was reported for a big hit on Bailey Smith.
Pickett, who was charged with rough conduct, has accepted a two-match ban for the bump, which was graded as careless conduct, high impact and high contact.
"It's obviously an incident you don't like to see," Goodwin told reporters.
"I'm certainly not going to talk to [Pickett] about the way he plays … but I did speak to our playing group and Kozzy was involved in that about the bump."
"There's no element in the game where we should be bumping."
"That's the message I've given to our playing group; that it just puts you in a situation that you don't want to be in."
"So, we certainly won't be encouraging our players to bump. We want them to tackle. We want them to play tough, contested footy. But that's one element of the game we've got to get right."
Goodwin was asked if the bump was dead.
"From my perspective, I think it is, yeah," he said.
"I think there's always the way you use your body with the shoulder in contest situations, but not in a bumping sense.
"Our game is about tackling. There's no need to bump. I think it is dead."
The bump has come under the microscope again after a season-opening weekend of big hits.
Sydney star Lance Franklin accepted a one-match ban for a bump on Gold Coast defender Sam Collins in the Swans' 49-point win over the Suns.
And Adelaide's Shane McAdam was sent straight to the tribunal for a heavy bump on Greater Western Sydney's Jacob Wehr.
McAdam faces a long stint on the sidelines. The bump was graded as careless with severe impact, meaning he could be suspended for at least three games, if he is found guilty.
It comes after a second-class action was launched in Victoria's Supreme Court on behalf of players with concussion-related injuries.
Collingwood champion Scott Pendlebury has floated the idea of a "sin bin" where players will be forced to take time-out for dangerous behaviour, similar to the system in place in the NRL.
But Goodwin dismissed the call. "I think it just adds another complexity to the game that we don't need," he said.
"There's probably limited incidents in the season that there would be conjecture over.
"I think it just provides a bit more grey and fuel for something to go wrong."
