Barry Hall - a bit of biff!

Mark - there's always a bit of the run a red light logic - - if you run a red light and that's it, then, if you get caught, you might get a fine and demerit points. If you run a red light and kill someone, it's a bit more serious. Likewise, Hall could have caused much more damage to Staker - thankfully didn't - and perhaps surprisingly, Staker might be right to play this week, apparently has no broken jaw or major concussion etc. If he had have had his nose split open, or jaw re-arranged - then, like the red light scenario - -factor on a few more weeks. Is that just dumb luck? probably - but, otherwise all speeders, drink drivers and red light runners should be charged with culpable driving because they COULD HAVE killed someone. My main gripe is that we shouldn't get too focussed on this issue. Punches like that are as rare as hens teeth these days - trial by video etc has taken care of that. We need to worry more about what the AFL has made a big deal about - which is protecting players with their head over the ball etc - as, that is 'part of the game' (similar to how the AFL has cleaned up the ruck contest to protect ruckmen from PCL injuries, and RU has tried to tidy up the scrum - with respect to the danger of collapsing scrums - - those are real important because the game dictates people are put in those situations - being punched, or head butted or digitally probed!! - - those aren't really regular match situational scenarios). And on that point of protecting players in regular situational scenarios - - the Barry Hall broken wrist from the dodgey fence is actually a bigger 'on going' issue out of the game (or should be) than the fact that Barry Hall went stupid and clocked someone. The Zidane thing - I wasn't comparing the action specifically - more the momentary lapse of reason that results in a professional sportsman performing such a moment of madness - - just what that madness entailed wasn't really the point. Normal folk usually get to blame alcohol for stupid decisions - - sportsmen out in the heat of battle, in physical combat, probably we need to accept that now and then something stupid will happen - - and probably we need to allow a little slack (not too much) - but allow the opportunity for the offending player to re-build their reputation (although, Hall will forever be linked with this, just as Leigh Matthews is with breaking Neville Bruns' jaw - - however, we've allowed Matthews to 'move on' and to a degree outgrow that act and now is a highly regarded legend of the game and a key figure with growing the game in QLD).

Michael C perhaps you are right to a degree, perhaps Hall is genuinely sorry and if so that would be commendable as it is quite rare. However there are a number of contributors above who seem to think sorry is enough and Hall is some kind of victim of this situation. You yourself even compared the situation to Zidane in the World Cup Final - the reasons may be the same but the effects certainly weren't, Zidane headbutted Matterazzi in the sternum not the face - the Italian would have been shocked but in little pain whilst Staker was knocked into next week and fortunate to have got away without extremely serious injuries The blame sits squarely with Hall and I still think 7 weeks is weak.

Mark - you said "Anyway Hall deserved more than he got, I would say upwards of 10 weeks. And Maggie if you really think sorry is enough then you are being a touch naive. He is only sorry he was caught not that he did it in the first place." A bit silly - only sorry that he was caught - - that's a very silly thing to say - - immediately he did it you could tell there was a sense of 'oh my god, what have I done'.......looked like one of those almost out of body experiences. At that point he had no idea that he'd been necessarily caught - did he? Remember, he would probably have got 10 weeks, but the points system based on the NRL example - allows discounts - - there's no reason that he should NOT be subject to the JUSTICE SYSTEM in place - - and, so, he got the appropriate discounts. Otherwise, he would have gone for a bout 10 weeks.

There are some creatively pathetic attempts above to defend the indefensible. The only reason this gained so much publicity was because of the quality of the footage, which couldn't have been better. You see the same trend in Australian news with stories that would normally not rate a mention but because some random punter captured it on his mobile or camcorder hey presto it's up in front. Anyway Hall deserved more than he got, I would say upwards of 10 weeks. And Maggie if you really think sorry is enough then you are being a touch naive. He is only sorry he was caught not that he did it in the first place.

Tamie - Barry Hall can't win now - he's too old to play long enough to proove he's really learnt - - given that his other main punch publicised yesterday was against young (at the time) Sam MacFarlane back in about '97. I don't think Hall will still be going around in 2019, let alone in another 5 years as he's been fairly clean the last 5. Drugs - - we all seem to forget that alcohol is the most evil of these drugs - and that in the main, where illicit drug use has occurred it is known that alcohol use was happening first. Sadly, drugs programs generally have to specify 'drugs and alcohol' as if 'alcohol' is not a 'drug', but, it is and these organisations regard it as such - however, the general community continues to be downplay the role of alcohol. (might I point out - the VAFA is alcohol free until after the senior game finishes each saturday - between this and the goodsports program etc - there are sports people and leagues out there being pro-active) re. the medical papers - that is no surprise, the AFL has been transparent about reporting each year the numbers of players caught by the out of competition illicit drugs testing and put in programs........and thankfully these players weren't 'smart' enough to NOT get caught. Let's just hope the AFL continues to be able to catch people under it's testing regime - - because WADA sure can't, and if we relied on that the AFL could come out and claim to be 'clean'!!!!! (not taking a swipe at the AFL here - most other codes HAVE relied on WADA to claim being 'clean').

The Answer - NOtice I first mentioned ZZ in soccer - brain explosion. Fair enough, Tallis was just good old fashioned argy-bargy..... fine, Ben Ross was no shrinking violet himself - and so that makes it okay? It was still brain explosion stuff - and in reality Tallis was the one making it a boxing event, as the big ugly aged pro vs the young up and comer. Point was - punches thrown, landed - and no major deal about it - a sin bin and that's over and done with. No thought of 5 or 7 or 9 weeks suspensions. 'All these AFL types' - - it's the AFLs own supposedly pet media blowing it out of proportion - - and in respect to the comparison to the lack of coverage of Xavier Clarke,(did you see what happened to him? and that by virtue of West effectively getting off - means that the game condones West cleaning up an unsuspecting player 40 metres of the ball - - that is ridiculous!!) and his mother NOT being interviewed as Brent Stakers was etc etc - - look, you must admit - most players would cringe with their mum being interviewed in those circumstances. That's creating hysteria over something that - fair enough - hasn't been seen for a long, long time (well, a decent punch 'landing', there's been a good number of air swings). However - it seems the whole Barry Hall thing has perhaps been blown up so as to create publicity in NSW/Sydney in particular - it's got non-AFL people talking. Apparently it might actually be good for football?!?!??!

Barry Hall will never learn to keep the boxing out of AFL. It's not the first time he's done this to a player, and although he's 'remorseful' and has promised to 'try' to not do it again, well, I don't buy it. As for the drugs within West Coast, I'm prepared to watch the Eagles languish at the bottom of the ladder and rebuild with a totally clean team rather than win with drug cheats. It's fair to say that drugs exist in EVERY team in EVERY code. If you're sick of people singling out Barry Hall for what he's done, then you have no right to do the same with drugs and the Eagles. What about the so-called medical papers that were found in the gutter in Melbourne last year singling out three Hawthorn players? What about the life and times of Wayne Carey? And what about the NSW-proclaimed best player ever - Andrew Johns, who came out and said that he had taken drugs for his ENTIRE career. Then they crown him the best player ever. Go figure. Double stands all around. Makes me sick. Btw, there is nothing that will convince me that Barry Hall is capable of playing a fair game under any circumstances. There aren't enough expletives to describe him.

Good to see Michael C and try and drag rugby league into it. Once again, he is well off the mark. The Tallis incident wasn't nearly comparable as it was (smaller opponent? It was Ben Ross he was bigger, but that doesn't fit your line) Tallis was involved ina punch up, Hall was a cowardly king hit. Those sorts of actions gets 8-12 weeks in rugby league. It will be interesting to see it the AFL has the guts to do the same. Brillant the way all these AFL types are saying it shouldn't be blown out of proportion, when that is exactly what they do every time it happens in a code played outside Australia.

My only problem with the punch was that it shouldve been on Braun' or cousins chin.

Searly, Your judge of distance is poor likewise your eyesight. I saw it replayed "on the couch" and his elbow was not tucked in but elevated and right into his jaw/face. Obviously, the AFL thought is serious enough to give him a penalty. The thing they got wrong was the length.

Bob, assuming you're talking about Nick Maxwell's hit on Marc Murphy on Sunday, I think you may have mis-viewed or misunderstood the incident. No doubt, it was a big hit, but there's no way it was off the ball. In fact Murphy was trying to gain possession at the time. He also certainly didn't hit him in the face with his elbow, as evidenced by the fact that Murphy got back up and played out the rest of the game. When contact was made Maxwell's elbow was actually at about Murphy's chest height. It was Maxwell's upper body which made contact with Murphy's head and, up until a few years ago it would have been considered just a really good 'shirt-front'. For better or worse, in this day and age players are expected to take more care and are not allowed to line blokes up. As a result, Maxwell has accepted a one match ban after taking into account the deductions for a good record and an early plea.

Agreed re Saker - - Hall just suffers because he has a boxing background - which makes it worse (although, might make such an instinctive movement all the more likely?) Hands over players - ideally when the 3rd umpire came it was to kill off the defensive style of Micky Gayfer and Micky Martyn (both products of North U19s under Pagan!!). As it turned out, Martyn then started backing in his athleticism and judgement!!!! (and, for the most part, succeeded) - - alas, Silvagni and Fletcher continued to be all over the forward - - and it was Silvagni and therefore his 'style' that was justified by being named full back of the century. Go figure!!! The Eagles - - another story altogether - - however, whether their illegal drugs were just 'illicit' outside of 'competition' or otherwise - - the reality is that the supposedly all great WADA testing regime that non-Olympic sports were forced to sign up to by the FEd Govt at the urging of the AOC - - well, how useless has that been shown to be. The AFL have picked up 30 more positive tests outside of competition for illicit drugs than WADA has inside competition for either of Soccer, Union, League and AFL combined. (i.e. Wendall Sailor and that's about it - they couldn't get Johns, or Cousins....if they can't get those guys - then, what is the good of WADA - just an expensive PR excercise to get an Australian - -- Gosper?? - in charge of the IOC - because we've got John Fahey onto the WADA panal.).

Saker was all over Hall like a rash and despite two prior remonstations from Hall to back off he failed to deter and persisted to point of placing his right hand on Hall's throat. Hall reacted as I would - Saker got what he deserved! Unfortunately, AFL has lax rules about hands all over players - especially when the "attack" is coming from behind. They need a blanket rule to not allow hands over anyone when outside 3 metres from the ball. As much as Hall has been signalled out for his "indiscretion" the COWARDLY attack by the Collingwood player on the Blues player way outside the distance legal limit for contact was SUBSTANTIALLY worse. An elbow into his face when the target was looking elsewhere, delivered at pace. Hall deserves about 4 weeks while the Collingwood player deserves about 10 weeks. Unfortunately, Journalists are having a field day bagging Hall for indiscretions he made YEARS ago. While on the subject of the Eagles and their players. They continue to hold the 2006 AFL flag when some of their players have acknowledged they were on illegal drugs. Marion Jones has had to return ALL her Olympic gold medals after acknowledging the same. Now we hear the USA team relay are to lose their gold medals as well. Is it too much to ask that the AFL follow suit and strip the Eagles of their tarnished 2006 AFL Flag as well?

Very little said about Trent West picking off X.Clarke - who was stretchered off, and his parents nowhere to be heard. Why was the Barry Hall case seemingly hijacked by the media - in a sensationalist manner??? I wonder if it's regarded as even bad news is good news in getting people talking in Sydney?? At any rate - all 4 Derby and Showdown teams were feeble this week, Port certainly were spent after 3/4 time, infact, before then. Adelaide were probably the best of the lot against the best opposition, and the WA teams just struggled to find forward gears all match. If WCE had produced that performance in isolation - then it'd be a bigger concern - - and the loss of Embley & Priddis, the poor form of Lynch and Hansen - there's worries there but the next 2 or 3 weeks will really tell the story.

There should be more of it!

A 'king-hit' is a word reserved exclusively for Australian sensationalist articles (particularly in sport it seems). Don't get me started on how silly the word is. Agree michael, bringing staker's mum into it is just lazy journalism - clearly just interviewing the one person who you know is going to give you the best copy. The biggest problem I find is the media choosing to focus all their energy on this incident have failed to even mention how pathetic the Eagles were, being thumped by Sydney by that many points. West Coast PR must be wrapped about this, it draws the attention away from the teams' insipid performances-of-late.

Kento - it's a fine line playing a very physical 'combat' sport requiring high levels of 'awareness', of 'aggression' etc - and, to not expect the odd 'boilling over' every now and then. The worst thing with Barry Hall is that he is a training and reputable boxer - and so, it's perhaps more surprising that he's perhaps so well contained that 'instinctive' side of him. Or not. I don't know. The sad thing is bringing his mum into it. That's gutter journalism. NOw, the process sends him to the tribunal - - and perhaps they deem whether it fits the criteria of a 'king hit' (not sure what that is?), and we see if his suspension will infact be longer than his forced rest due to a broken wrist. And, we also wonder if there will be a suitable uproar about the crappy hoardings at ANZ stadium that resulted in Hall getting injured - - or whether he has a case to sue the venue...... And, certainly, it happens in all codes/sports that someone has a 'brain explosion'. Zinadine Zedane is a prime example. I remember well too Gordon Tallis going toe to toe with a smaller opponent. He got sin-binned and that was end of story. (I gather 3rd man in in NRL is the one in trouble). On this one though, the annoying thing is the rubbish Staker was allowed to get away with before hand, and I gather that one B.Hall has been getting zero from the umpires, and again, there he was, quite deserving of a free kick, and the 3rd umpire is supposed to be cracking down on that - - that was how the 3rd umpire was 'sold' to the footy public. Ah well, just checking now to see when North Melb play the Swans.....

I love how he does the 'what?! What did I do?' gesture after he knocks him out. Priceless! Personally, while I agree this happens a lot in other codes, it's just not acceptable behaviour. What is it about footy players that makes them think they can do things on the field that they can't do in public? These guys need to be taught a lesson; ban him for a long time and make others (in all codes) realise that just because you're a high paid footy star, doesn't mean you can knock guys out if they annoy you.