Play by the rules?

For goodness sake! The hyperbole being uttered in the wake of the Steve Johnson suspension is almost beyond belief.

 

Geelong Premiership player, James Kelly, apparently opened his mouth and the following drivel issued forth:

 

"These days it is getting harder and harder to be an AFL footballer and especially out on the ground, with so much happening and so many decisions you have got to make in such a short space of time," Kelly said.

"It's getting really, really hard to know what you can and can't do."

 

No it’s not. Not hard at all. You can’t shirtfront an opponent thirty metres off the ball. It’s against the Laws of Australian Football. Has been for as long as you’ve been playing the game at any level, James.

 

Perhaps young James and his AFL playing colleagues could devote some time to reading the laws of the game over the off-season? Then he’d be less likely to get his tongue dirty by putting his boot firmly in his mouth.

 

Even the contentious and controversial holding the ball rule looks pretty straightforward when you read it. Getting hold of the copy of the laws that The Giesch and his chums use is pretty difficult as it’s always in revision, but the basics remain relatively straightforward and playing to them gives the Giesch’s boys less room for extemporising.

 

Still, we do feel for James. It must be simply awful collecting a few hundred ‘k’ a year and being expected to know the laws of the game as well.