Richmond defender Nathan Broad’s sling tackle on young Adelaide Crow Patrick Parnell has been sent straight to the tribunal, meaning the Tigers face the prospect of a challenging stretch of matches without the premiership star, starting with a titanic clash with Collingwood on Friday night.

Match review officer Michael Christian considered Broad’s tackle in Saturday’s win over Adelaide as dangerous. It left Parnell concussed, and was graded as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact.

After three brutal bumps dominated discussion in round one, the sling tackle took centre stage a week later, with Port Adelaide’s Ryan Burton copping a two-match sanction after burying Jamie Elliott in the MCG turf. The AFL has made clear its edict to protect the head, so incidents such as these are frowned upon, especially with an increasing number of concussion lawsuits lodged against the league.

Elliott was able to play on after Burton’s tackle and was uninjured, but Parnell took no further part and is out of Saturday night’s Showdown under the league’s concussion protocol. Christian graded Burton’s rough conduct charge as careless conduct, high impact and high contact.

North Melbourne co-captain Jy Simpkin can also accept a one-game suspension for striking Fremantle midfielder Caleb Serong in the second quarter of the Kangaroos’ thrilling one-point victory in Perth on Saturday night.

Former Richmond champion Matthew Richardson said umpires have a role to play in reducing the number of sling tackles.

“Parnell [was] trying to fight through the tackle, so they’re both standing up – strong guys fighting through it – so it feels like a couple of seconds that is going on before Broad then slung him to the ground,” Richardson said on 3AW.

“I reckon the umpires, in this situation, need to blow the whistle quickly. You could almost see what’s going to happen in those situations.