I agree David. They pin the arms so that the player can’t dispose of the ball legally, but once they do that the player can’t protect themselves. I also don’t remember seeing it happen years ago.
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Pinning the arms has been coached into players for a few years now in order to clearly prevent the player with the ball disposing of it with a handball or kick. Yes it can be problematic for the player with the ball who can sustain an AC joint injury or a head injury when brought to the ground. But players have always accepted that risk as part of the game. To avoid the arms being pinned, the tackler must only tackle the body, allowing the ball carrier to dispose of it to their team mate. Is that what we want to see? Will the umpires be able to pick that distinction given they have enough trouble umpiring the speed of the game now? A watershed moment.
As Tigaman said, the grounds are much firmer these days, even a few showers often don't soften them up so there is less cushioning for head contact on the ground. Then again the old grounds had turf wickets which were quite firm in early season and at finals time if we had a dry September.
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The tribunal uses the test of "what would a reasonable player do" in a particular situation, eg. the way the player executes the tackle. But they are lawyers, not former players, so they don't grasp what's in the mind of the tackler or his role in the game. I applaud the banning of the dangerous sling tackle but if we are going to avoid accidental head impact in tackles then the knee up going for a high mark will be the next feature of our game to be looked at. Raising the knee is a natural part of jumping off the ground to get more height but the lawyers could say "a reasonable player would know that putting your knee up may impact the head of the player in front of you". That's clearly not what we want the Tribunal to say, so where does it end?
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Confronting the mess they’ve created must be oh so hard for this idiotic organisation.
Part of it is that wiping clean the overload of rules and scenarios is slapping themselves in the face.
I get the concussion thing is serious, but with litigation hanging over them and inept management of umpiring
And their own bowl of spaghetti, they’ll continue to be headless chickens …
Part of it is that wiping clean the overload of rules and scenarios is slapping themselves in the face.
I get the concussion thing is serious, but with litigation hanging over them and inept management of umpiring
And their own bowl of spaghetti, they’ll continue to be headless chickens …
The result of pinning someones arms and taking them to the ground is not "accidental head impact." It was made clear in 2023 this would be a suspension and there has been numerous examples since where tacklers have made sure they have rolled a player to ensure they werent knocked out. Bedofrd did not do this.
Cameron's is a bit different- i havent looked at many replays, but his opponent looked to fall once tackled, rather than Cameron taking him to the ground.
Has anybody stopped to ask themselves why there has been such a huge increase in tackling-concussion incidents the last 2 to 3 years ? It's phenomenal. Bizarre almost.
Has the game changed that much, specifically tackling, in the last couple of years such that its causing all these incidents ? Hardly think so.
Personally, believe the issue is as much to do with the player being tackled, as it is the player making the tackle. Just a thought.
Has the game changed that much, specifically tackling, in the last couple of years such that its causing all these incidents ? Hardly think so.
Personally, believe the issue is as much to do with the player being tackled, as it is the player making the tackle. Just a thought.
I think there’s been a much heavier emphasis in tackling/pressure over the past 10 years than there was before that. Grappling techniques in particular were taught at many AFL clubs in order to stop players shrugging tackles to get their arms free & dish off.
That said I think most of the increases in concussion is primarily due to increased congestion & the overall speed of the game. It’s no coincidence impact injuries have increased. The AFL is not addressing the big picture. Numbers around the ball.
That said I think most of the increases in concussion is primarily due to increased congestion & the overall speed of the game. It’s no coincidence impact injuries have increased. The AFL is not addressing the big picture. Numbers around the ball.
There's an even bigger one that you missed between the same two clubs. The Arse Clench putting his forearm through Flossy's head didn't rate a free kick either
The confusion reigns because Dangerfield got off for basically the same incident.
That's only because the world had paused holding its breath to see if Scablett was going to need career saving surgery on his popped shoulder. Flossy near got decapitated, but all the meedjia cared about was the nude nut.
Became a thing when players stopped being pinged for taking the tackler on and not disposing of the footy. Coaches then teach players to bear hug n dump. Old mate Krak attack still one of the games best tacklers. One arm around the waist and the other to hook one arm and strip or cause the ball to spill.
Yep. Dropping the knees and hitting the ground harder, and I think Timmeh did the same. Whiplashed his own head.
Spot on. I'm bemused by the defence of Bedford on here. Bedford is obliged to "roll" Tim so that his head doesn't hit the ground. He didn't. His shoulder is in between Tim's shoulderblades and that ends up driving Tim forward and down. Whether Tim contributed or not is irrelevant imho. The onus is with the tackler. The tackler got it wrong in this instance.
Thats the thing. Dillon comes out with an earnest statement saying 'the player health, and head is our no 1 priority, we make no apologies... blah blah blah"
Who is he trying to kid?
Not sure about the last 2-3 years, but probably 5 years ago, TT would have staggered around for a couple of minutes then played the game out, and played again next week.
But as ToO said tackle techniques have changed- players were taught to pin arms and drag players to the ground. They now need to shift back away from this.
I think part of it is on the coaches. They direct the tackler to pin the arms and take the players to the ground.
Either he’s restricted from raising his arms to release the ball and/or taken to ground to take him out of play.
They may have to adjust, don’t try to take the player prone to ground when his arms are pinned.
Tackle, restrict his arms, can still drop the knees to add weight, the tackled player is restricted but not prone.
Agree. It's noticeable at our training that all the tackling drills are tackle and roll to the side or the pull backward type tackle (i.e. like Steely on Tom Green).
Rugby Union and League have changed their tackle techniques to stop the driving the head into the ground tackle. Both of those other sports still have other challenges but the high to low tackle (i.e. take high and drive down) has been pretty much removed. In Union the going in low (very low) is really noticeable.
Because luck should nor come into it, but it does because the AFL are focusing on the outcome, not whether the tackle was well applied and not a sling tackle, etc. The tackler has very little control over the outcome, given it all happens in 1 or 2 sets and the action of the player with the ball can also influence the outcome of whether his head hits the ground and with what force. Listening to Dermie on SEN just now and he is mystified as to where we go from here. Especially re. the Bedford tackle which he describes as perfect and always had been and that tackle often does not cause a concussion. The AFL are on another planet if they think players can let go of one arm half-way through a tackle that only lasts 1 or 2 seconds. They must have never played the game.
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