Collingwood’s Jordan De Goey was suspended for three matches for knocking out West Coast’s Elijah Hewett,Melbourne’s Kysaiah Pickett copped two for a spear-like bump to Western Bulldogs midfielder Bailey Smith and former Adelaide forward Shane McAdam sat out three games for a dangerous head-high bump that concussed Giants youngster Jacob Weir.
A year later,the AFL has doubled the pain for those making a head-high bump.
Imagine copping a speeding fine of $500 in September and finding it has become $1200 less than six months later ... all out of fear for legal threats to the game.
The AFL has made it too risky for players to bump. Coaches,once demanding physical force,now caution against such a show of strength. This is a dramatic shift in the sport’s ethos.
Melbourne premiership coach Simon Goodwin instructed his players last year not to bump. “There’s no element in the game where we should be bumping,and that’s the message I’ve given to our playing group,that it just puts you in a situation you don’t want to be in,” he said.
Fans who love a fierce tackle would have groaned whenWestern Bulldogs AFLW player Britney Gutknecht was referred directly to the tribunal for rough conduct after a perfectly executed tackle on Sydney’s Paige Sheppard. The AFL sought a three-match ban.
Fortunately,the case was thrown out. The AFL did not appeal the tribunal’s decision despite its displeasure,but it vowed to closely examine the case at the end of the season to consider rule changes designed to deter forceful head-high contact and to further reduce the risk of concussion in the game.
The AFL has come after the bump. Now it is after the tackle.
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Gutknecht’s effort was everything the supporters love about our game. A finely tuned athlete,running at high speed and desperately lunging at full length to pin her oblivious opponent’s arms,causing the ball to spill,is for the highlights reel not a three-hour tribunal hearing. The fans in the stand were ecstatic in their cries of “baaaall” – and the umpire did not hesitate to reward the play with a free kick.
Like the bump,how long will it be before coaches such as Goodwin instruct his players to not tackle?
What’s next on the AFL agenda? Will it outlaw the smother?
The fallout fromBrayden Maynard’s attempted smother that concussed Angus Brayshaw is a raw nerve at AFL House. More so whenBrayshaw has been medically instructed to retire after repeated and persistent concussions.
The AFL rewrote its rule book in response and says any player who now chooses to leave the ground in an attempt to smother and makes any high contact to an opponent will face a report,with the incident to be deemed careless at a minimum.
No bumping. No tackling. No smothering.
And ultimately the AFL will have no option but to outlaw knees to the head in marking contests. Those who argue a player choosing to bump has a duty of care to his opponent are hypocrites if they do not recognise a player going for a mark also has a duty of care to his opponent,particularly those running back with the flight of the ball. His head is exposed. Raising the knee poses a major risk to the safety of the opposition player.
No bumping. No tackling. No smothering. And soon no spectacular,high-flying marks.
The AFL’s relentless pursuit of safety and the mounting legal cases threatens to strip the very essence of the game. Fans can ponder a future devoid of collisions,contests,big smothers and high-flying heroics that once defined it.
If the AFL continues down this path without pushback it will lose many fans. And then what will the AFL do?
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