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“The bump is dead!”
How many times have we seen or heard that over the years? Every season out of the last ten at least, you’d think.
The bump is on the agenda once again, due to two high impact incidents from AFL’s opening weekend, with a supplementary third for good measure.
Kysaiah Pickett’s hit on Bailey Smith was easily the most egregious, simply for the fact that Smith was defenceless as he was kicking the ball. Pickett wasn’t contesting the football – he was looking to be physical, which is to be applauded, but he went too far.
In the modern game, launching off the ground to hit an “open” opponent in a manner that connects with or threatens a head injury and concussion, should be met with punishment. The fact Bailey Smith bounced straight back to his feet should be irrelevant.
Pickett was given two weeks by the MRO, and Melbourne should have replied and accepted it in record time. If we are looking to eliminate this kind of reckless targeting, it probably should have been four.
Shane McAdam was sent directly to the tribunal for his bump on GWS defender Jacob Wehr. Wehr stayed down, was taken off the field, and had a concussion test.
Initially, the bumps of McAdam and Pickett look remarkably similar due to them happening at high velocity, but there is a key differences between them.
In the McAdam case, the ball is in dispute. Wehr has only just taken possession when McAdam crashes into him. Wehr has a duty of care to himself to expect that contact is coming – if he is not aware of this, and can’t prepare and condition himself for it, then perhaps an AFL field is not for him.
It was a big shoulder with fully body weight behind it that McAdam delivered. If his feet left the ground, it was barely, but the angle he was coming from, low to high, meant solid contact was made to the chin and jaw of Wehr. And in today’s game, that must draw a sanction.
Wehr was given three weeks after being referred directly to the tribunal. In and of itself, that might be correct. But it is just plain wrong that Pickett got off with a week less instead of a week more.
Lance Franklin was also suspended this round, for a week, thanks to his bump on Gold Coast’s Sam Collins. In this instance, the ball was bobbling and bouncing around, both players were trying to get it while approaching from different angles, and Franklin delivered a glancing blow.
This one is a classic case of the oval ball bouncing in funny directions, and one player lacking awareness. Collins left himself wide open as he turned to chase the ball, making no attempt to protect himself while playing a collision sport. He is as much of a contributor to the incident as Franklin, if not moreso.
And herein lies the rub.
Over the years, the AFL has made their football grounds a “safer workplace”. As we well know, acts of thuggery have been all but eliminated, and they have done well to ensure deliberate head-high bumps are infrequent and punished.
But this comes at a cost – as each generation passes, AFL players become that little bit less aware, their instinct to protect both themselves and the ball becomes that little bit duller.
We have seen several instances in recent years where a player has been suspended for an accidental bump that ends in concussion or a player leaving the field. Mostly, it is the player on the receiving end that has created their own problem due to failing to protect themselves.
And let’s not forget the AFL’s ludicrous “sliding” rule after Lindsay Thomas went low and broke Gary Rohan’s ankle in 2012, in a one-off freak accident.
So what we have now, a decade later, is players that are bent over the ball with their heads exposed and more head-clashes than ever before. Lack of awareness is almost being trained into them at this point.
As for this sin bin idea, which has been raised again this week, well that can get in the bin from the start. The game is hard enough to officiate, and the AFL has proven they can’t even execute simple goal-line technology.
Then we have the long-term effects of concussion on generations of previous players, and what head-high impacts might mean for the future of the current.
Only idiots judge actions or principles from the past by modern standards, so we’ll leave that to them. The modern player is well educated on the long-term risks that playing AFL may or may not have on them. Move on.
AFL is a physical game, and a collision sport. That element of danger, and fear within it, while perhaps less than ever before, is still present. And that is one of the key elements that makes it great.
The bump isn’t dead, and when executed well it’s a beautiful thing. Max Gawn celebrated Pickett’s hit on Smith as helping change the game in the Demons’ favour. Players want to win, and the bump can help them.
Long live the bump.