Or is it as simple as Oliver had no case to answer?

Well, for starters, Parker’s head doesn’t hit the ground - in fact, it doesn’t really get close to the ground, and he bounces up quickly to his feet to give a one-two handball to Ollie Florent running past.

Secondly, Parker’s arms are free in the tackle. They’re not pinned, he’s not in a vulnerable position, and while the tackle is considered dangerous by the downfield umpire in that split moment, Christian has the benefit of numerous camera angles to take a more considered view of the action.

Free kicks and suspensions don’t always marry up. Comparatively, Adams’ tackle on Seb Ross last Sunday did not draw a free kick from any umpire, despite Ross having both arms pinned. Adams’ tackle resulted in a one-match suspension, given the vulnerability of Ross’ position in the contest.

Merrett’s tackle is much more a dump tackle than Oliver’s sling tackle, with Tom Sparrow driven head-first into the turf.

And thirdly, it’s not illegal to tackle. Sure, it’s becoming more difficult to execute the perfect tackle, but it’s still fundamental to the game that players can tackle in an attempt to dispossess the opposition.

But the Oliver tackle doesn’t tick any of the boxes that would be considered relevant to the MRO. There's no breach of a duty of care. There was no illegal contact to the player, no conduct to be considered intentional or careless, and therefore there was ultimately no need to determine the force of the tackle.

It closer resembles Jordan De Goey’s tackle on Hawthorn’s Lloyd Meek in the pre-season. That attracted a fine, as even though Meek was able to break some of the tackle with his arms, his head did hit the ground, graded as low impact. De Goey had breached a duty of care.

Parker’s head didn’t, and while it’s the action the AFL are trying to stamp out - not necessarily the result - the game still allows players to tackle, so long as those tackled aren't left in risky situations.

Asked why Christian didn’t provide an explanation for the Oliver case in his round three Sunday report, the AFL told The Age: “The match review officer reviews all games and charges are communicated. This passage of play is from round three and a charge wasn’t laid.”

Perhaps the latest lesson is “don’t pin the arms”. Or if you do, be sure that if you’re taking the player to ground, they don’t hit their head. While you allow your opponent to fire off a handball, you also allow them to brace their fall on impact, thus relieving some of your responsibility in the tackle.

And it means, for now, we don’t risk a third ineligible player polling the most votes should Oliver top this year’s Brownlow count.