In the past decade, the AFL has been pretty clear in its determination to make the game as safe as possible while maintaining most of the combativeness that makes it great. Some would even argue they’ve gone too far, and made the game an inferior one.
It’s perfectly legal for one player to hip and shoulder another, but it’s a gamble every time: get it wrong, make any contact with the head, and a suspension will follow.
Tackling will always be part of the game – and players have never been better at it – but the AFL, rightfully, has tried to stamped out slinging tackles that see defenceless players thrown head-first into the turf.
Both moves make sense. You can’t have human missiles launching at unsuspecting opponents and knocking them into next week. The same goes for tackling; players are too strong and their techniques too good to not put some kind of restriction on what they can and can’t do to a wrapped-up opponent.
It’s not just the head that’s being protected, though. Human straitjacket Cyril Rioli has been penalised for his chicken-wing method of pinning and pulling the arm of an opponent in a tackle.
Players are warned about charging recklessly into an opponent with his head down over the footy for fear of the damage that could be done. Time and again we hear about players owing each other a ‘duty of care’.
Where then was the duty of care shown by Geelong’s Mitch Duncan when he leapt into the air towards a vulnerable Luke Hodge and, rather than contest the ball, chose to tuck in and turn to protect himself?
Contrary to what some well-known football voices will have you believe, Duncan did not go for the ball – to do that, he would have needed to stick his hands out at some point – and now Hodge has a broken arm.
“Duncan took his eyes off the footy,” the great Leigh Matthews said after taking a look at a replay.
It was a crap action, and Hodge was rightfully awarded a free kick, but should it have been more than that?
The match review panel didn’t think so: “Mitch Duncan cleared contact L Hodge. Contact was made between Duncan’s shoulder and Hodge’s arm and there was no forceful high contact made,” AFL spokesman Patrick Keane tweeted on Tuesday.
If one player bumps another who expects contact and breaks his arm, players and reasonable fans would think it’s just an unfortunate result to part of the game.
Jumping and bumping a player attempting a mark though? That’s not an accepted part of the game, which is why the umpire paid a free kick and reported Duncan on the day.
I got a text from a friend whom I went to the game with more than 24 hours later. The incident happened right in front of us and obviously she’d been thinking about it too:
“The tribunal should come down hard on Mitch Duncan for the Hodge incident. Just because it didn’t involve a head strike doesn’t make what he did any better. A broken bone is still a pretty serious injury. And he was totally negligent the way he went into that contest!”
Not every illegal action needs to result in a suspension. Sometimes a free kick is appropriate, even if a player does get injured, but the AFL’s explanation that “there was no forceful high contact made” doesn’t cut it for me when a guy’s arm is broken.
New York Hawk
Guest
If you haven't seen the contest, you can't have an opinion. That you then decide to write two more lengthy paragraphs about it is mind-boggling, especially as you selectively chose the narrative.
New York Hawk
Guest
If you even see this comment due to its extreme lateness, can you please advise which players you believe have had their seasons' ruined by the Hawks when the ball was out of play? It reads like fact-less slander to me, but happy to be corrected if I am wrong.
Adrian Polykandrites
Expert
Going around in circles a bit here. No, not every injury should be looked at. I've been pretty clear in that. But the action should be. It's the action that I have a problem with. AFL says it looked at the action and it wasn't worthy of suspension, I'm ok with that. I wasn't satisfied with the explanation, but that's the case with most of what comes from the AFL. I wrote about this play because I thought it was worth discussing, plain and simple.
Samantha
Roar Rookie
So by your reasoning, I assume you think every time a player is injured it should be looked at. So why didn't you write an article about Hodges knee to Bartel's head? Can't say that knee was going for the ball. He was obviously 2nd to the ball and playing the man ... except he lead with his knee and made head high contact.
Adrian Polykandrites
Expert
I attend a lot of games involving teams I don't barrack for, including this one. Same goes for the person I was with.
Hyena
Guest
You sound like a religious fanatic complaining that the world doesn't conform to your view. Just admit you're wrong and move on.
jax
Guest
It does matter who you barrack for in this instance because the idea of suspending Duncan is a ludicrous one and it raises questions about your objectivity. My guess is that you're a Hawks supporter, you said you attended the game and your friend texted you. It's not difficult to read between the lines but please correct me if I'm wrong. The Hawks have taken out more players and have ruined more players seasons when the ball has been out of play in recent years than any team that I can recall. They were called the unsociable Hawks, and angry Hawks for a reason and I suspect that we will see it manifest itself again this weekend. Put it down to karma, deal with it and move on please.
Adrian Polykandrites
Expert
"Looked like the elbow was raised, that didn't actually do any damage to Luke Hodge." "It wasn't a great action, but he was very fortunate that he didn't actually get Luke Hodge in the head." As I've said Samantha, I'm not saying he should be suspended, but neither of those explanations cut it for me. If he'd broken his nose – which is a less significant injury – he'd be gone? "He was entitled to be in that contest … it wasn't in any way careless." I call complete BS on this; I think it was a weak act by Duncan. If he'd thrown a fist at the ball, he could have KO'd Hodge and I would have thought nothing of it, because at least he was making a play on the footy. "Unfortunately sometimes accidents do happen on the football field … and we can't penalise all the accidents." I agree wholeheartedly with this. One of my pet hates is that the AFL often doesn't consider a free kick a sufficient penalty and pushes a suspension. I may not have been eloquent enough in my article, but I wasn't trying to rub Duncan out, simply trying to say that it should be looked at and that it should just be given the OK because it wasn't a head injury. It should be more nuanced that "hit in the head = gone" "Everything else = part of the game".
Chris Vincent
Roar Pro
There is no "chopping the arm" rule. The rule is about "interference to the arms of a marking player" or something close to that. And frankly, Duncan's hit is about a clear-cut example of that as you can get! (with the benefit of slow motion video of course)
Samantha
Roar Rookie
Adrian watch http://video.heraldsun.com.au/v/448483/Burke-on-Duncans-hit?c=Sport/AFL/News&p=1 first 2 minutes and tell me if you still think a shoulder to the wrist is worthy of a suspension.
Samantha
Roar Rookie
Chopping the arm with a shoulder ... that's a new rule for me, when did that come in? Watch the first 2 minutes of http://video.heraldsun.com.au/v/448483/Burke-on-Duncans-hit?c=Sport/AFL/News&p=1 explains it all better than I can.
Chris Vincent
Roar Pro
It was a free kick, if at least for contact to the arm of the player marking.
alicesprings
Guest
Havnt you hear the hawks play under different rules? Hodge is a protected species.
alicesprings
Guest
It was a free kick nothing more…by your metric hodge would never get on the field as he would always suspended!…ha
alicesprings
Guest
It was one of hundreds of contest on the day..this one just happened to result in an injury. We are only talking about it because its hodge who ironically is one of the hardest/dirtiest players on the field. What goes around comes around…did anyone else see him kneeing barrel in the head??
Pope Paul VII
Guest
Dodgy Hodgy was a sitting duck though and Duncan didn't need to protect himself. Duncan could have dropped in over the top of him, knees and all, marking or spoiling it. It was strange footy whatever it was.
Pope Paul VII
Guest
A flying bump in a marking contest is not the same as a bump general play. He certainly chopped the arms, so we can give Dodgy a kick for that. Like I said before, this was an unorthodox way to contest a mark.
Tim Holt
Roar Guru
I think we will struggle to beat WCE but we will beat the Scrays. I say this for we will maul their young pups with physical. Plus we play Ethihad Stadium really well But, if we are nil 3, we are still good enough and with enough resilience/belief in the group to fight back
Samantha
Roar Rookie
Free kick for what exactly? Last I checked ball was clearly within 5 metres and your allowed to bump. It's not flag football. It wasn't behind play or off the ball. Wasn't over the shoulder. Wasn't high.
Wilson
Roar Guru
agree it was a free kick and nothing more