TACKLE HAPPY

Danger ban no cause for change in tactics

GEELONG will not order its players to hide their claws in the tackle despite losing star Patrick Dangerfield to suspension this week.

The Cats accepted a one-match ban handed to Dangerfield by the AFL’s Match Review Panel for a tackle on Carlton’s Matthew Kreuzer that left the Blue concussed.

The tackle on Kreuzer led to the Blue dropping the ball and then hitting his head on the ground soon after, leaving him dazed.

Coach Chris Scott conceded he felt Dangerfield was unlucky to miss tomorrow night’s clash against Sydney, adding the club came seriously close to appealing the rough conduct charge.

With the Match Review Panel’s interpretation fresh in his mind, Scott said he would not alter the way the club coached its players.

“If the alternative is be a very poor tackling team and be poor in the contest, then I think we are just going to have to risk that occasionally players might inadvertently cross the boundaries as the rule makers dictate they are at the moment,” Scott said.

“I think we will still continue to coach players to try to turn the opposition in the tackle to avoid the in-the-back free kick. It’s very difficult to coach players to let go of the tackle when the ball spills free unless you are sure the ball spills free.

“It was very clear in that circumstance that Kreuzer still had the ball.”

The Cats hired a highpowered legal team to look over the MRP’s verdict, knowing if they chose not to appeal, Dangerfield’s hopes of a second Brownlow Medal would be over.

Scott said there was a “very, very strong argument from others” that the tackle was reasonable.

“We felt there was a very, very strong argument that he shouldn’t have been suspended. There are some risks the legal team advised us on that probably just meant (we shouldn’t appeal),” he said.

“That’s maybe more a reflection on the way the rules are worded and the difficulty in overturning a decision of the MRP.

“It’s not as if you go in with a level playing field. You need to prove they made an incorrect decision

“The rules are worded in such a way to make that impossible. There was a tackle, there was a bad outcome.

“Did the tackler contribute to that bad outcome? It’s very, very difficult if they take that view to overturn it.”

Dangerfield was Brownlow Medal favourite before the suspension and the club did factor that into its decision.

Scott said there was a silver lining to Dangerfield missing the clash against Sydney, with the forced break allowing the midfielder to fully overcome a foot injury he picked up against Hawthorn.

“He has got a little bit of a foot problem that will be better for the week off,” he said.

“When you look at the bigger picture, hopefully over the course of a couple of months, you can see the positives in him having a week out.”