CLARKO TELLS: ‘My fear for Joel’s head’
THE AFL has conceded Joel Selwood should not have been paid Monday’s contentious shrugging free kick as Alastair Clarkson yesterday declared war on ducking season.
Clarkson yesterday lit the fuse for a weekend of debate when he said the AFL needed to outlaw the practice to protect players from themselves.
The controversial issue flared again when Joel Selwood received a free kick for a tackle from Ryan y Burton which started well below his shoulders.
But Selwood’s ability to shrug his shoulders and lean into the tackle meant he was rewarded a free kick as the tackle slipped high.
AFL umpires coach Hayden Kennedy yesterday said the league’s whistleblowers were determined not to hand free kicks to players milking high tackles.
The AFL’s crackdown last year made it clear any player who ducks, raises their arm or drops at the knees in a tackle should not be rewarded.
He conceded Burton’s tack- le started at Selwood’s bicep, but said it was almost impossible for umpires to decide on the starting point of tackles without the benefit of slowmotion.
Kennedy said the umpires could not go into games with preconceived beliefs about not paying free kicks to players with a reputation for ducking.
“We say to the umpires if it’s clear the player is responsible for the high tackle they should call ‘play on’,” he said.
“There were two tackles in a row (from Burton on Selwood) and we called play on for the first one.
“The second one if you go to the slow-mo it starts around the same area but the difficulty is around seeing where it starts in normal motion. That is the challenge for us at the moment.
“I can understand the umpire paying it but if you go to the slow motion you will find it probably started below the shoulder.”
Selwood is one of a number of players including Toby McLean, Rhys Mathieson, Luke Shuey, Paul Puopolo, Anthony Miles and Dylan Grimes with a reputation for the practice.