Let’s be Frank here…
“Frank Drebin, Police Squad. Throw down your guns, and come on out with your hands up. Or come on out, then throw down your guns, whichever way you wanna do it. Just remember the two key elements here: one, guns to be thrown down; two, come on out!”
Where was the rules on the fly memo, explaining shifting interpretations of shrugging tackles for high free kicks to clubs, 19 games into Joel Selwood’s career?
As an aside: Who sends memos? Is it an attachment in an email? Or sent by fax?
I recall a junior colleague at a recruitment firm I worked in sending his introductory email to all staff in the following format.
Dear All,
See attached email.
Jeff
He had put the contents of his email in a word document and sent it as an attachment. It was cute, but boy did we laugh.
AFL umpires’ boss Dan Richardson said the following in his memo attachment distributed to clubs this week:
“We want to be clear, if the umpire believes the ball carrier is responsible for the high contact, then they won’t be rewarded.
“First and foremost, players attempting to win the ball must be protected and the onus of duty of care is on the tackler. However, having won the ball, the ball carrier has a duty of care to not put themselves in a position for high contact.
“Ultimately, the rules do not reward players for putting themselves in vulnerable positions to draw a free kick. This is something we prefer not to see in our game at any level.
“Our umpires strive to get every decision right, every single time, however there are instances where, just like players, decisions are made at full speed at ground level without the benefit of slow-motion replay.
“The health and safety of players is the primary concern of both the AFL and the clubs, and we will continue to work with clubs, their coaching panels, as well as players to ensure the safety of the game.”
Credit where it’s due. Joel Selwood has milked the rules better than any Australian athlete – not named John Gillespie, David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft – across the span of his career. He has sat atop the free kick differential winners list for the last decade.
(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
The shrug has been a winner.
So, why the change now?
What is it about the ducking, dodging, diving, shrugging and staging of Jack Ginnivan and Cody Weightman that makes them the poster children for change?
Is it because they’ve been very open about their “skillsets”? How they are training themselves, and their teammates, to perfect their exploitation of a loophole in the interpretation of a rule?
Only last week, Ginnivan gave a 50-minute interview on the Goes Alright Podcast where the title for the show was called The Art of The High Tackle ft. Jack Ginnivan.
“I learnt it in under 15s. There’s vision of me doing it in under 16s,” Ginnivan said.
“I feel like it’s just a great way to kick a goal. I reckon I’ve kicked 10 goals from free kicks or something like that.”
Ginnivan went into further detail to explain how he practices the technique at training with teammates.
“I was doing it with ‘Madge’ (Jack Madgen) … instead of going to ground I was trying to stand up in the tackle and take it,” he said.
“That’s something I’m trying to work on because there’s an indication of when you raise your arm up and go to ground on your knees it looks like you’re just diving for it, but if you pick it up, stay upright and get high and you can handball it then that’s a better indication that it’s going to work.”
Cody Weightman? When chatting to Garry Lyon on SEN Breakfast, he portrayed a similar message, suggesting his drawing of free kicks is a “skillset”. And then went on to suggest that anyone criticising him is part of the tall poppy cutting committee.
Joel Selwood, on the flip side, has been a little smarter in trying to protect his ruse over the years. Outside of an interview in 2012, with Michael Gleeson from The Age, Selwood has been very quiet.
The Age opening par: JOEL Selwood admits his uncanny ability to draw head-high free kicks is a legitimate evasive technique and he is merely exploiting an advantage he has over less experienced or weaker opponents.
In 2018, he said: “You can talk about the whole thing that I duck but I do it to the rules at the moment and I will continue to do it until they get changed.”
And that’s the difference between Joel and the two youngsters who seemed to have upset the king’s throne by flaunting their exploitation.
The thing I’ve learnt about the big end of town in sport, is that the exploitation goes only one way: price of admission and then again at the tuck shop.
Gill won’t be exploited.
“I don’t like the exploitation of the rule and I don’t like that – the rule is there to protect players’ heads – they are actually putting themselves in harm’s way”.
The AFL have made the moral of this story very clear.
Don’t be like Jack Ginnivan, or Cody Weightman, or Joel Selwood, who would fake their own death, sell their grandmas, or pee their own pants, if it meant winning a free kick.
The game is already hard enough to watch.
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Suido
Roar Rookie
The difference is the danger to players. Getting the ball to the safety of the boundary line has no direct dangerous outcome. Seeking a free kick for high contact is the opposite. No teenagers should be taught to literally and deliberately risk their neck for a free kick, but Jack was and said it out loud. The crack down had to happen.
Rodda
Guest
The real difference is Selwood 9/10 forces legitimate tackles high with his tactics. Ginnivan often gets collected high firstly then increases its chance to be seen with his tactics. It is actually a high free not cause by his actions initially. There are times he does the selwood and forces the tackle high too these should be play on as should selwoods.
Bangkokpussey
Roar Rookie
A bit of a stretch to compare Ginivan and Selwood Pete. No one is harder at the ball than Selwood. Players always exploit the rules. Remember running through to give the opposition a point preventing a goal and retaining possession? Hawthorn were masters of that or two on the mark. Rances classic swan dives. The AFL gradually gets rid of these loop holes and I'm glad they are getting rid of this one. I'm all for getting rid of as many touchy free kicks as possible. The one where a player misses the mark but gets a light arm on the shoulder and the players that fall forward for an in the back are two others that frustrate me as a spectator.
Thom Roker
Roar Guru
2022 is the year of respecting the umpire. We had the dissent crackdown, which has improved umpire-player relations & the intention is for that to filter down into junior footy. The arm gesturing part became the story, yet common sense prevailed. Now we are at this juncture where the AFL has a couple of kids playing for free kicks. They have to be asking what if it happens in a Grand Final. Bombers fans will tell you Weightman staging for free kicks turned the early momentum in their final. Comparing Selwood to Ginnivan is chalk and cheese. One of them is renowned for fairness and leadership, whose hard-nosed attack on the ball leaves defenders at risk of their tackles sliding high, while the other is this swarmy kid who brags that he can fool the umpires into awarding him free kicks all the time. Those of my generation imitated Warwick Capper. Every lunchtime (yes, even on the Gold Coast - he played for us) kids would cry Caaapppeeerrr as they climbed up another kid to try and take a speccy. Very few AFL players could do it and nobody could do it like Capper. Even Waz would be giving away a lot of free kicks under the interpretation these days. The important part of the argument that gets lost is that the AFL is trying to protect the head. They can't do that with morons staging for free kicks every time they get possession. Jack Ginnivan needs to change because the game is so much bigger than him and head injuries are the single biggest threat the code has ever faced. Ty Zantuck is the canary in the mine.
Milo
Roar Rookie
Theres no difference between Selwood and Ginnivan in that both stage for frees. However Selwood kept his trap shut whereas Ginnivan shot his mouth off. Either way, its a long awaited interpretation change. Lets hope it works.
JamesH
Roar Guru
^^ What Andy and Macca said
Kevo
Roar Rookie
Seems to be a bit of a theme of wetting pants in your writing! I’m dead set sure Sellwood would not be a peeer of pants. One of the best and most courageous footballers of his generation and has always played within the rules, and head over the ball. Where he has fallen short and should have incurred substantial suspension is for bringing the game into disrepute is for publicly proclaiming Home and Away to be his favourite television program. Maybe he did cop way too many knocks to the head or he thought he was referring to some footy show. Anyway it’s far worse than the 2 silly young baggers publicly taking the pee out of the umpires and AFL by gloating about their techniques.
Chanon
Roar Rookie
That would be funny :silly:
Doctor Rotcod
Roar Rookie
Would you like Naitanui to tackle Weightman or Waterman to tackle him?
ScottyJ
Roar Rookie
Add a grand each infringement
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
Yeah I agree Nick. I was using the word cheats in an attempt to be sarcastic. Tom Stewart being the fair player he is.
John
Peter, you know the game too well!
Dingo
Roar Rookie
A lot of it does come down to maturity. Shame because he is a real talent and I don’t mind the attitude and show pony look but bragging about the frees will only draw more attention, (which it has now done) He needs to take note of the Daicos brothers whose talent is matched by game smarts and maturity
Chanon
Roar Rookie
The game is made up of all sizes Doc, what’s your point?
Slane
Guest
At the angle that Ginniven moves after picking up the ball, he would fall over if he didn't 'get tackled'. He's almost horizontal seeking the high contact.
Doctor Rotcod
Roar Rookie
And because he's a light weight and most defenders are built to rule, the tackles are going to hurt.
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
Yeah he's silly bragging about it Dingo, that's just a lack of common sense or the fact he is 19. If you have an "edge" then keep it as quiet as you can. Selwood has always been circumspect when asked about it.
Dingo
Roar Rookie
I agree with you Peter, there are many who exploit the rules and play on the edge. They want to win and you can’t blame them. I am surprised that Ginnivan boasts about “winning” frees and even practices the art at training. Why tell the AFL world your intentions?
Brett Geeves
Expert
The difference can simply be summed up by the fact that if the opposition players stepped back from the tackle at the last second Selwood would burst through or get the handball away, Ginnivan would fall to the ground. This is perfect, Macca. Have we been too harsh on Selwood?
Macca
Roar Rookie
So we should treat the players who duck into a tackle the same as those who dive forward from a marking contest. Great idea, call play on and fine them $1,000.