Is mandatory helmet use inevitable in AFL?

 
Adrian Musolino Columnist

By , 1 Sep 2009 Adrian Musolino is a Roar Expert

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Byron Schammer of Fremantle is bumped from the ball by Mark Lecras of West Coast during the AFL Round 18 match between the West Coast Eagles and Fremantle Dockers at the Subiaco Oval. Slattery Images

Byron Schammer of Fremantle is bumped from the ball by Mark Lecras of West Coast during the AFL Round 18 match between the West Coast Eagles and Fremantle Dockers at the Subiaco Oval. Slattery Images

As witnessed by the Buddy Franklin saga, the AFL is doing its best to eradicate the bump from the game. Its justification is the protection of players from neck and head injuries. But how far will they go to do so?

As Andrew Demetriou told radio station 3AW: “The fact of the matter is that the rule was considered two years ago and it was on the basis of medical experts and we’ve made absolutely no apologies for protecting the head because we don’t want head injuries.”

The league has an obligation to set an example for the junior ranks playing the game to ensure the bump, and subsequent head and neck injuries, are eradicated.

The problem is that such head high collisions can often be incidental in a game played at such a brutal pace, at head height and on the ground, with such a huge variation in player size.

So how can it possibly be eradicated, especially with so many incidental collisions?

It can’t, as head high contacts will continue, despite the bump rule, as they are an inevitable part of the game.

If the bump rule is to be applied so harshly, the controversy over such incidents will only multiply with each weekend of football and such outcry will damage the codes reputation, particularly when you consider how important physicality is to the very nature of Aussie Rules.

So is the use of a helmet, as used by the likes of Nathan Burke, Shaun Hart and an increasing number of Rugby players an inevitability considering the AFL wants to protect its players from injuries which can be prevented by the device and also improve how the game is perceived by parents with children in the junior ranks?

There is a stigma attached to the use of the helmet in the machismo world of AFL, a game that prides itself on its rough and tumble play as a point of differentiation from other codes.

It is seen as inherently un-Australian, a counter to everything the AFL stands for.

Former Collingwood, Bulldogs and Power player Josh Mahoney was forced to use a helmet for a period and states that by wearing one, “you are perceived in the football world as soft.”

But could the helmet be the thing that saves the bump in the long-term, allowing the AFL to retain its physicality?

Either way, the AFL, with the bump rule, has set upon a path that will fundamentally alter how the game is played.

The helmet might be seen as an extreme measure, but will its use really significantly alter Aussie Rules for the worse, or is it just the negative perceptions of it that have meant it has been rarely mentioned in this bump debate?

These negative perceptions would need to be changed.

As Mahoney states: “Rather than calling blokes who are wearing helmets names we should be admiring them for their courage. I’m sure nobody thinks that Nathan Burke and Shaun Hart were ‘soft’ players.

“Helmet wearers are willing to put up with ridicule and attacks at their character to do what they love, play football.”

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