The issue there is if it's something like a tackle that ended up with a head clash or a little shoulder-head as the ball carrier dropped slightly or something like that, but the tackled player is Liam Picken, Paddy, McCartin or Jack Frost? Do we rub someone out for a half a season or more because the player tackled was one of the unlucky ones seemingly predispositioned to encounter significant concussion affects?Hard to find the right penalty, especially with accidental acts.
Like you, punish the act rather than the outcome, but perhaps the penalty should be as long as the medical enforced period for the concussed player.
It may stop the in season infractions and I would double the penalty for finals and perhaps not being able to replace the suspended player.
I doubt any coach would want to play a man down for the rest of the finals
There needs to be a distinction between foul play and accidental contact and I'm a strong believer in penalising the action, not the outcome. If you bump and hit high with a bit of a raised elbow but the other player luckily is fine, you shouldn't get away with a relative slap on the wrist (a fine or 1 week)
On the other hand if you're got genuinely accidental contact that occurred while competing for the ball that results in a player being knocked out and misses a month or so, I'm not sure that deserves to be taken to the cleaners over.
I really dislike that the match review committee seem to put so much weight into the outcome, in reality it should have very little if any impact on the MRC's findings and decision. The 'dog act' might get let off while the accident gets 4 weeks. It's a joke.