Watching the opening game of the 2016 pre-season tonight, one thing stood out — the change in tackling intention. It might be that the umpiring department have got onto something that will improve the game we watch every week.
In the lead-up to the game, it was made quite clear, though the media, that the umpires would strictly police slinging tackles. AussieRulesBlog sees that as a real plus, but we were prepared to be disappointed.
In recent years, the objective of tackling has seemed to be to force the opponent into the ground with as much force as could be mustered. Almost inevitably, we saw sling tackles and players, unable to protect or brace themselves, being slammed into the ground. A few concussions resulted in a so-called 'double movement' sling tackle becoming a reportable offence — but that didn't stop the intent to slam players into the turf.
Tonight's first pre-season game was played at a pretty good pace for a the first competitive practice game, with plenty of physical clashes. For all of that, the intention when tackling seemed to be to win a free kick for holding the ball or incorrect disposal, rather than to knock the opponent into next week. There were no sling-type tackles that we saw.
It was a refreshing change, and one that we hope to see repeated as we see more games.
There’s plenty for Blues fans to like from Brendan Bolton’s first outing as head coach, while Sam Mitchell looked not to have missed a beat from the Grand Final. It’s great to have footy back!
Thursday, February 18, 2016
A noticeable change
In the lead-up to the game, it was made quite clear, though the media, that the umpires would strictly police slinging tackles. AussieRulesBlog sees that as a real plus, but we were prepared to be disappointed.
In recent years, the objective of tackling has seemed to be to force the opponent into the ground with as much force as could be mustered. Almost inevitably, we saw sling tackles and players, unable to protect or brace themselves, being slammed into the ground. A few concussions resulted in a so-called 'double movement' sling tackle becoming a reportable offence — but that didn't stop the intent to slam players into the turf.
Tonight's first pre-season game was played at a pretty good pace for a the first competitive practice game, with plenty of physical clashes. For all of that, the intention when tackling seemed to be to win a free kick for holding the ball or incorrect disposal, rather than to knock the opponent into next week. There were no sling-type tackles that we saw.
It was a refreshing change, and one that we hope to see repeated as we see more games.
There’s plenty for Blues fans to like from Brendan Bolton’s first outing as head coach, while Sam Mitchell looked not to have missed a beat from the Grand Final. It’s great to have footy back!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment