The head is sacroscant ... so we have a problem. | PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum
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The head is sacroscant ... so we have a problem.

hopper

hopper

Vile weed!
Jul 28, 2004
6,261
52
Darwin
I've been mulling this over for the last couple of weeks and thought I'd watch a few more games before piping up about it. But the AFL's obession with protecting the head is creating a huge problem as far as I'm concerned. I think several players are now deliberately putting thier heads in half dangerous situations because they know their opponents will have little choice but to make contact.

And that causes massive problems:
* players are actually MORE at risk of injury through this practice.
* puts opponents in a very precarious position, leaving them unsure about how to handle a ducking opponent diving at them.
* umpires are not sure how to interpret decisions where the high contact is actually generated by the recipient of the contact.
* it's effectively traking the bump out of our game - a part of the game that most even minded souls think is a valuable and unique feature of it.

I've noticed two players who are clearly exploiting this practice - Adam Schneider and Alwyn Davey. For mine, not only is this pretty gutless and not worthy of the rewards they are getting for it, but it's also pretty dangerous policy.

What do you lot reckon?
 
Absolutely. Players can lead with the head because opponents are at pains to avoid the penalties for making front-on contact.

The Selwoods all have it down to a fine art- not as blatant as the crude Essendon "headbutts" in the first quarter last night.
 
hopper said:
I've noticed two players who are clearly exploiting this practice - Adam Schneider and Alwyn Davey. For mine, not only is this pretty gutless and not worthy of the rewards they are getting for it, but it's also pretty dangerous policy.

What do you lot reckon?
Click to expand...

I noticed the Davey one (if you're thinking of the same one?) He essentially headbutted Newman in the chest and before Newman could even get his arms around Davey, the free kick had been paid (and a goal resulted IIRC). There was nothing Newman could do but the umpire still paid the high contact.

No doubt players are initiating the head high contact, and the old "you ducked into it" is no longer able to be applied.

The AFL has made another rod for its back.
 
Freezer said:
I noticed the Davey one (if you're thinking of the same one?) He essentially headbutted Newman in the chest and before Newman could even get his arms around Davey, the free kick had been paid (and a goal resulted IIRC). There was nothing Newman could do but the umpire still paid the high contact.

No doubt players are initiating the head high contact, and the old "you ducked into it" is no longer able to be applied.

The AFL has made another rod for its back.
Click to expand...

Davey does it evry time he is in traffic, the little twerp
 
Agree withya 100% Hippity, but it's the domino effect after turning a sport into a business / income. OH&S dictates that AFL must not just be seen to protect, but to be really doing something about what is a foreseeable event. Now there is another forseeable event (as you have described it), so which way does it go from here? How long 'til they're all wearing headgear do you reckon?
 
There was a moment in the round 22 game against WC last year that really made me laugh.

A WC player slipped and fell onto his knees with the ball. Jarrod Sylvester, remember him, ran in and saw that he was going to make contact with the head so he stopped dead, refusing to tackle. The WC player braced for contact and when he realised that there wasn't going to be any, flung himself at Sylvester's knee. Sylvester actually tried to avoid the contact but eventually the WC player achieved his goal, hitting it gently with his head.

The ump had been waiting whistle in mouth ready to call the free, and didn't disappoint.
 
the umps and the afl have no feel for the game. they are like naive 10 year old kids. the davey one was a disgrace. it's how rance has made a living.
 
When I played the game which was a bloody long time ago - it was not considered "around the neck" if the player ducked his head into the tackle.

These days if any contact is made with the head then it is a free kick with a possible report. The player with the ball or over the ball "ducks his head" into the opposition tackle or bump and he gets rewarded.

It is exactly the opposite to when I played the game..........RT
 
Freezer said:
The AFL has made another rod for its back.
Click to expand...

They are going to need to make a new back for all these rods.

Next thing you know, ducking the head will be made illegal, and we will have a whole new poorly defined rule open to umpire, and everyone else's, interpretation.

Just goes to show how easy it is to run an organisation like the AFL. Yes Vlad, it is fool-proof, you prove it every day.
 
We'll sought this problem out by creating a new rule change that will replace this problem with a new one, that requires a further rule change.
 
Freezer said:
I noticed the Davey one (if you're thinking of the same one?) He essentially headbutted Newman in the chest and before Newman could even get his arms around Davey, the free kick had been paid (and a goal resulted IIRC). There was nothing Newman could do but the umpire still paid the high contact.

No doubt players are initiating the head high contact, and the old "you ducked into it" is no longer able to be applied.

The AFL has made another rod for its back.
Click to expand...

saw that & I think there was another one is slid into a stationary player's leg with his head & got another free kick & goal.

best thing the club can do is highlight these inconsistancies to the AFL & "seek" clarification, basically pointing out this Davey's apparent abuse of the rules
 
Phar Ace said:
How long 'til they're all wearing headgear do you reckon?
Click to expand...
Spot on Pharaccio. This is the next logical step for players who use this tactic. I think this places our umpires in an impossible position - and the game is definitely hard enough to umpire these days.

There's an emerging problem with this very thing in the NFL. Players "slip" when they are about to be tackled so that their well protected (with rules and padding) heads and shoulders contact the opponent's knees, causing a plethora of knee injuries in the comp.

I think this obsession with protecting the head needs to be shared by the bloke throwing his head into dangerous places. This will further protect him, and also help players (like Newman on Sat night) with some way of confronting a player running at them.
 
Joel Selwood is the classic. I think the umpires are onto him just a little bit this year but over the last couple of seasons he has turned the head high tackle into an artform.

Watch him carefully. At first feel of the tackle he drops at the knees. There is no ducking of the head, it just follows his knees downward witj the rest of his body and the tackler finds Selwood's head where his torso had been a moment previously. He gets a truckload of frees doing this.
 
TOT70 said:
Joel Selwood is the classic. I think the umpires are onto him just a little bit this year but over the last couple of seasons he has turned the head high tackle into an artform.

Watch him carefully. At first feel of the tackle he drops at the knees. There is no ducking of the head, it just follows his knees downward witj the rest of his body and the tackler finds Selwood's head where his torso had been a moment previously. He gets a truckload of frees doing this.
Click to expand...


Nothing wrong with that as long as he doesn't duck his head,I wish our blokes could master it.
 
hopper said:
I've been mulling this over for the last couple of weeks and thought I'd watch a few more games before piping up about it. But the AFL's obession with protecting the head is creating a huge problem as far as I'm concerned. I think several players are now deliberately putting thier heads in half dangerous situations because they know their opponents will have little choice but to make contact.

And that causes massive problems:
* players are actually MORE at risk of injury through this practice.
* puts opponents in a very precarious position, leaving them unsure about how to handle a ducking opponent diving at them.
* umpires are not sure how to interpret decisions where the high contact is actually generated by the recipient of the contact.
* it's effectively traking the bump out of our game - a part of the game that most even minded souls think is a valuable and unique feature of it.

I've noticed two players who are clearly exploiting this practice - Adam Schneider and Alwyn Davey. For mine, not only is this pretty gutless and not worthy of the rewards they are getting for it, but it's also pretty dangerous policy.

What do you lot reckon?
Click to expand...

Agree 100%. High chance of getting a free kick if you lead with the head. It's a fine line, however I don't think it is a risky ploy to lead with the head as every player is acutely aware that hitting someone head high will almost certainly be a suspension, so are going to great lengths to avoid contact in that situation. The 'head lead' will only become more prevalent imo.
 
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