- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
North Melbourne coach Brad Scott has urged footballers to look before they leap in the wake of Harris Andrews’ sickening AFL injury.
The Brisbane defender has suffered bleeding on the brain following his heavy clash with GWS star Jeremy Cameron in a marking contest.
Cameron was sent directly to Tuesday night’s tribunal and faces at least a four-game suspension.
Andrews showed great bravery with his attempted spoil, but Scott said players must be careful.
“We laud players who keep their eyes on the ball in the contest, but the flaw in that at the moment is we pillory players who have a look,” Scott told AFL360.
“I encourage our players to look before you leap.
“There’s no problem, when the ball’s in the air, having a quick look to see what’s ahead of you before you go.”
Scott’s former Brisbane teammate Jonathan Brown was renowned for his courage, but his physical clashes took a fearful toll.
“I will never forget (coach) Leigh Matthews telling him to stop – just stop going back with the flight,” Scott said.
“He was concerned he was not only going to kill himself, but he was going to kill Daniel Bradshaw as well, the amount of times he ran back into our own players.
“There were some sickening head knocks.”
Scott noted that North Melbourne great Glenn Archer was renowned for backing into contests, but rarely was injured in the process.
“He was able to protect himself and very rarely got hurt, because he had a great technique,” Scott said.
Collingwood president Eddie McGuire referred to Geelong defender Tom Lonergan, who lost a kidney and nearly his life after a heavy 2006 collision.
“The reason we believe it’s so courageous is it takes courage and the danger is enormous,” McGuire said of players running blindly into packs.
“I don’t think I’m stretching it too far to say he (Lonergan) lost a kidney because the week before, one of his teammates got absolutely slaughtered by the media for having a look.
“He put himself in a position where he probably shouldn’t have.”
McGuire is also alarmed at some of the clashes he sees in women’s and junior football.
“I said to a kid ‘what are you going in like that for?’ and he said ‘I have to keep my head over the ball’,” McGuire said.
“(St Kilda great) Darrel Baldock said ‘never put your head where you can stick your backside’ – we have to teach people how to protect themselves.”
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.