Match review panel member Nathan Burke has renewed calls for a "blanket rule" that would prevent players taking to the field the week after losing consciousness in a game.

Speaking seven days after Brisbane Lions ruckman Stefan Martin was left unconscious by Gold Coast defender Steven May, Burke said he was surprised that Martin had been cleared to play the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.

The MRP referred May straight to the tribunal, who handed the backman a five-match ban.

But while Burke said he was comfortable with the length of May's penalty, he thought Martin should also have been forced into a stint on the sidelines. "I'm even more surprised to see [Martin] out on the field this weekend," Burke told ABC radio on Saturday.

"The fact that he was unconscious, not just concussed, but unconscious.

"He has passed concussion tests, which are very thorough throughout the week.

"I should be careful here not cast aspersions against the medical staff.

"But for mine, and what I know about concussions, I would be more than happy if they brought in a blanket rule that as soon as you lose consciousness on the field, then you are automatically out for a week."

Burke, who famously wore a helmet for much of his 323-game career at St Kilda, said he had suffered "numerous" concussions across 18 years at the Saints.

While he said he never left consciousness on the field, the former St Kilda captain and board member said that regular diagnoses of contact-induced migraines during his career probably had a concussive element too.

Burke thought that the reaction to May's penalty had generally been positive.

"I haven't heard many quarters of the football world saying that was manifestly too much or too little.

"The only conjecture would be whether it was deliberate or intentional, or a careless action."