Footy thugs cop right whack

PLAYERS copping life bans for coward punches have been in the media recently and I’m loving it.

Not the coward punches, of course, rather the statements league tribunals such as AFL Barwon and the Northern Football League have made in the last month.

There’s no room in our game for thuggery and the more blokes banned from playing football for off-theball hits, the better.

I was the victim of an offthe-ball incident only three Saturdays ago myself.

Playing low level football in the Victorian Amateur Football League in Melbourne, an opposition player unleashed an angry barrage to the back of my head as I sheltered for cover in the foetal position.

Unfortunately, no video footage and a lack of evidence meant this thug escaped penalty, despite the officiating umpire at the time deciding to send him off the ground for the remainder of the game.

The incident was investigated by a former league official, who decided it was my opponent who was the victim because of a verbal sledge I’d made that had sparked his rage.

He had received a handball with three of our players around him and left it behind and my automatic reaction was to let him know about it.

That, according to the VAFA investigator, meant it was OK for my opponent to attack me behind the play, getting me to the ground before pushing my face into the ground and punching me in the back of the head.

What ever happened to sticks and stones?

After receiving that investigator’s findings, I found myself more upset at the league than at the player. What sort of message does football want to send to thugs who hit unsuspecting victims?

Thankfully, my trust was restored two days later when I sat in the tribunal hearing of Brad Huhn.

Winchelsea’s Jo Fama had his eyes on the ball when Huhn swung his right fist into the midfielder’s face, sending him to the ground and knocking him out for the second half of the match.

Six weeks was probably the bare minimum the tribunal could have imposed.

Football leagues, like the State Government has done with coward punches, must maintain a firm stance on off-the-ball strikes. There’s no excuse for punching someone behind the play.