Cracking down on bad form
IS this the end of the annoying, niggling tagger?
AFL players trying to rough up opposition players beware: the League is ready to crack down.
As speculation of a red-card system flared late in the 2018 season, the league may instead take a tougher stance on lesser-grade incidents in a bid to prevent rising on-field tensions.
AFL football operations boss Steve Hocking said the league would next month hand the AFL Commission a set of proposals regarding on-field behaviour. And while a redcard rule has been considered, as much focus had been put on preventing more serious incidents from occurring.
“I think the thing that we’re really looking to get after is just that low-level behaviour — you know, pushing guys in the back, the low-level punches and so forth,” Hocking said.
“We’re going to take a very strong stance on that for 2019.”
Hocking said recommendations would be put to the Commission, from which it would determine “how hard we go.”
“We’ll put in front of them something to deal with what potentially leads to the (Andrew) Gaff incident,” Hocking said on SEN.
“And I think that’s where we need to add to. I think too often we do just look at the end outcome rather than the standard of behaviour that potentially escalates to that level.
“I’ve been very clear since I’ve been in the role, I’d like to see that stamped out of the game. The cheap shots, they’re just a waste of energy, I think there’s plenty of opportunities for players to display their courage and commitment to the game without impeding players unnecessarily.
“We’ll tighten it up, definitely.”