Does AFL House talk with the umpiring department? At all? We don’t think we’ll be alone in being startled by the latest pronouncement on the sling tackle issue.
This time, it’s Football Operations honcho Adrian Anderson weighing in:
AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson says Melbourne's Jack Trengove should have had a free kick paid against him for a tackle many thought would be cited by the match review panel.
. . .
Anderson said a 'rough conduct' free kick should be paid for instances of sling tackles or players being unnecessarily driven into the ground in a tackle, regardless of whether such incidents were considered reportable at the time by the umpires.
He said examples of the rule have been included on an educational DVD sent out each year to explain rule interpretations, going back to 2008.
Sorry, Adrian, but the last time we recall an umpire paying a rough conduct free kick* for a player being slung or driven into the ground in an otherwise legal tackle was when we were watching Noah catch the animals before boarding the ark.
Readers of recent posts won’t be surprised that AussieRulesBlog welcomes Anderson’s announcement. It’s just that it’s so out of kilter with what we’ve got used to seeing from The Giesch’s boys.
Well, at least we know now. Prepare for a zero-tolerance blitz on heavy tackles for the next few weeks!!
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*For the keen, the rough conduct free kick is at 15.4.5 (l) in the 2011 AFL Laws of the Game booklet.
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