An AFL great has fears the tackle is “going the same way as the bump” amid uproar surrounding the tribunal system following three-match bans to Charlie Cameron and Toby Bedford being upheld.
AFL CEO Andrew Dillon said the tribunal is working as intended to protect players’ safety as the Lions and Giants prepare to sit for the second week in a row to challenge Cameron and Bedford’s respective bans.
It follows general confusion and outrage from the football community surrounding the latest cases including Brisbane great Jonathan Brown expressing concerns for the “fabric of the game.”
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Even the AFLPA came out and declared players across the competition had become “genuinely confused as to what is and isn’t permissible in a tackle,” as per the Herald Sun.
Speaking on Fox Footy’s AFL 360 on Wednesday night, Kangaroos legend David King declared the crackdown on tackles, like when a player elects to bump, means they’ll need to second guess themselves before executing an action that could endanger an opponent.
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If not, King believes players will be at risk of copping heavy suspensions if they concuss their opponent like Cameron and Bedford did.
“I think the tackle is going to go the same way a the bump. If you choose to tackle, you’ve got to weigh up the options,” King said on AFL 360.
“That’s a sad state of affairs and not really where we want to go as a code, but I think that’s where we’re heading.
“You weigh up the risks and if you go in with that sort of momentum and force, there could be significant downside for you.”
The North legend ultimately believes the “onus will be on the tackler” moving forward and called for the AFL to simply come out and declare as much.
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“ I’ve got no doubt that’s the way we’re going, the same away as the bump … we’re just taking a long way to get there,” King continued.
“The AFL should come out and make the statement that this is where we’re going.
“The players will adjust in five minutes because they don’t want to miss games and penalise their own teams.
“I think we’ve just got to accept this is where we’re going and that we’re still going to have accidents.”
Speaking to media earlier on Wednesday, Dillon said the AFL would continue to look at the match review “matrix,” which dictates weighting of an offence.
St Kilda legend Leigh Montana thinks the matrix “has to change” and that incidents that result in concussion shouldn’t automatically result in severe impact.
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“That’s where I found (the suspensions) uncomfortable,” Montagna said on AFL 360.
“I think if it was one week each, we could probably say they’re unlucky but we’ll take the week. The three weeks for me doesn’t sit right.
“I think any type of concussion being graded as severe impact is not right.
“Some players can get a little back hander to the face and get concussed, others can smash their head on the table and not be concussed.
“So I think the whole matrix needs an overhaul if we’re going to suspend players for tackling.”
Hawthorn champion Jordan Lewis believes marking incidents will be “next on the agenda,” to which chief Herald Sun reporter Mark Robinson concurred.
“It will be, within 10 years no doubt the use of knees in marking contests will be on the agenda,” he said.
Source Agencies
