Fremantle ruckman Mason Cox backs in compounding financial penalties in the AFL for repeat offenders, labelling the latest staging fines a "slap on the wrist" that doesn't protect the sport's "tough" identity.
Cox's comments on the Red Time podcast come after Brisbane star Cam Rayner and Adelaide livewire Josh Rachele both accepted $1,000 sanctions for separate staging incidents during Round 11.
While Cox doesn't believe diving is a massive issue across the league, he warned what damage it could do the sport's optics.
"I don't think it's a great look for the game, to be honest," Cox said. "It's against what I think the AFL's known for. The AFL's known to be a brutal, strong, forceful, tough sport, and I think [staging] is against [the game's identity]."
Rayner was cited after throwing himself to the ground during a boundary ball-up against GWS' Jake Riccardi, a theatrical move that conned the umpire and resulted in a Brisbane goal. Rachele was also penalised for exaggerating contact following a minor push from Hawthorn co-captain Jai Newcombe on Thursday night in Tasmania.
"I think you do that $1,000 to say, 'hey, you've done something wrong, we've acknowledged it, documented it, and if you continue to do it, the fine's gonna go up a significant amount', so you kind of discourage repeat offenders. That, I think, takes it out of the game," Cox explained.
"The Rayner one... he was playing ruck, and the way it was adjudicated was purely because he was shorter and not as strong as [Riccardi] and he just flopped.
"I mean, you could have a ruckman do that every single contest and you could get a free kick, but it doesn't happen. It was a wild decision. I don't agree with it; it looked really bad. "You look at some of these guys who are consistently known to do this stuff and I think you just get to a point where you go, 'alright, if you wanna think this is ok, then we'll start fining you heavily'."
The AFL has to find a player guilty of excessive exaggeration in order to charge them with "staging".
