As is the case with pretty much any contact sport around the world, there are repeated claims that the Australian Football League isn't quite as tough as it once was. Those criticisms would have a hard time squaring with the shot that Hawthorne Hawks' Jordan Lewis took earlier this week from Jarrod Harbrow of the Western Bulldogs.

Lewis suffered a concussion from the impact when Harbrow launched at him in the second quarter, though he did return for a short period in the final stretch of play. In the days since it's prompted a good bit of reflection on the state of the game and the soft perception that it's ascribed when compared to rugby.

The game, as Rodney Eade would note in the wake of the Lewis collision, has never been tougher.

''The old timers who say it's not tough like it used to be are kidding themselves,'' said Eade.

A bad injury is not the way a league should have to show off its toughness, and the language that makes it sound like Lewis returned to the game because he felt pressure to do so will only force others to consider other such risky moves. If it means enough to the sport to endanger players so they can keep up a pissing match with rugby, that's their business. But there could be dire consequences to go along with that mindset.

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