Yet another nasty blow to AFL
MORE THAN 10,000 PLAYERS A YEAR END UP IN HOSPITAL EMERGENCY WARDS DUE TO FOOTBALL INJURIES – MOSTLY FROM BEING STRUCK OR TACKLED BY ANOTHER PLAYER
TAKE one look at the bloodied and broken face of Fremantle teenager Andrew Brayshaw and you see why soccer is so popular these days.
It’s simply because many parents think footy is too bloody dangerous – literally.
Things are bad enough thanks to incidental contact on the field, which can see kids suffer concussion and broken bones on a regular basis.
But throw in the chance of brutal, deliberate acts of violence like this, and you wouldn’t want your kid playing for quids.
My 14-year-old son played his last game of the season last weekend and I breathed a sigh of relief that he got through another year injury-free.
More than 10,000 players a year end up in hospital emergency wards due to football injuries – mostly from being struck or tackled by another player.
The fact that Brayshaw, who is just 18 and playing his first year of football, will now have to eat through a straw for a month shows how great the risks can be.
He was hit by his mate Andrew Gaff so hard his jaw was broken, three teeth were knocked out and he will not play again this season.
No doubt his anxious parents are thinking about his brother Angus, whose own football career has been marred by four concussions in 12 months.
When Gaff swung at Brayshaw, the ball was nowhere nearby; it was a nasty and opportunistic punch that would attract an assault charge in any other context.
Last night, the AFL tribunal put an end to Gaff’s season with an eightweek ban for the punch.
Sure, footy isn’t as violent as it used to be. The outcry over Brayshaw’s injury shows how far we’ve come.
These days you don’t see one coach give an opposition manager a “clip over the ears” at quarter-time in a grand final like Kevin Sheedy did back in 1990.
Thankfully, that sort of behaviour is in the past where it belongs.
Back then, brawls were much more frequent and on-field biffo took place without the benefit of cameras and microphones to inform officials afterwards. But football at all levels continues to be marred by bad behaviour, both on and off the field.
A 14-year-old family friend who’s a junior umpire was left in tears a few weeks ago after he was mercilessly abused by parents over the awarding of a free kick.
Brawls between players and spectators continue to take place in suburban footy, such as the Hoppers Crossing fight in Victoria that marred the 2017 grand final between Albion and Point Cook. Every weekend there seems to be a new round of violent incidents marring community games and sparking safety fears.
At one recent game in Bonbeach, a spectator had to be escorted away by police; at another in Melton South, a coach was sacked after getting into a brawl with one of his own players.
Soccer also has its own problems in this area, but the perception among parents is that at least it’s safer on the field.
The tough penalty for Gaff shows the AFL takes such behaviour seriously, but it can’t erase the impact of what he did on the game, its fans and players at all levels.