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Andrew Gaff would have had an interrupted sleep last Saturday night, because someone would have been under strict instructions to wake the Eagle about every four hours. This guards against the onset of a subarachnoid haemorrhage, which if left unchecked and untreated likely would have resulted in his death.
Can you imagine what might have happened if Gaff had died? I can.
The resulting knee-jerk would have transformed AFL from the tough, uncompromising sport it is into something that more closely resembles Gaelic football.
I don’t want to see the AFL softened. I want to see contact. I want to see courage. Fit, hard athletes competing to the utmost of their abilities. When that happens, people will occasionally get injured, and we should all accept that.
However, a strike to a player’s head, for any reason, is never acceptable. Such actions are in direct contrast with the competitive spirit in which our game should be played.
The problem with actions like Tom Jonas’ is that they are not tough. They are not competitive. They are certainly not courageous.
To launch your forearm and elbow into the back of someone’s head, someone who cannot defend themselves, is weak. It is soft. It’s an admission that you cannot beat this person in a fair contest.
Unfortunately, it’s behaviour that will continue to occur for as long as some less-evolved AFL commentators continue to insist that it’s a part of the game and that it’s okay.
It’s a blight on an otherwise wonderful game. Luckily, it’s a very solvable problem.
The first step is for AFL commentators and coaches to stop defending those who do it. Next, clubs should punish players who engage in thuggish behaviour.
Clubs already impose sanctions on players for poor behaviour off the field, is it really that much to ask for them to impose similar sanctions for deplorable actions on the field?
Thirdly, perpetrators of strikes to the head which result in a concussion must face immediate consequences. So when a player is concussed as a result of contact to the head, the umpire must remove the perpetrator immediately. Not just from the field, from the ground. The player is then referred directly to the tribunal.
I want to be very clear here that I’m not suggesting all reports should result in the removal of players from the field. On balance, I’m against umpires being able to hand out ‘red cards’ for reportable offences, because umpires can get it wrong, and it adds more pressure to what is already a difficult job.
Players should only be removed in the specific circumstances where a strike to the head has resulted in a concussion.
Perhaps most importantly, we should all call strikes to the head which result in concussion what they are. Cowardly actions.
There is precedent for this. Danny Green has had success in educating people about the risks associated with ‘king hit’ punches, which he refers to as coward’s punches.
There’s symmetry between a king hit and thuggish actions against unprotected players on an AFL field.
I hope that not just the AFL, but the fans accept this view as well. We shouldn’t have to face our Phil Hughes moment before such acceptance occurs.
Most of all, I hope that we don’t lose our courageous game because we lacked the courage to make a sensible reform before someone dies.
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