Skip to content
View in the app

A better way to browse. Learn more.

Demonland

A full-screen app on your home screen with push notifications, badges and more.

To install this app on iOS and iPadOS
  1. Tap the Share icon in Safari
  2. Scroll the menu and tap Add to Home Screen.
  3. Tap Add in the top-right corner.
To install this app on Android
  1. Tap the 3-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner of the browser.
  2. Tap Add to Home screen or Install app.
  3. Confirm by tapping Install.

Head high tackles

Featured Replies

36 minutes ago, John Crow Batty said:

Neil Sachse who passed away recently became a quadriplegic when charging low into an oncoming player. Though his injury was accidental as he appeared to stumble, a player deliberately dropping to his knees to milk a high tackle or going in head first to a tackle is at risk of the same sort of devastating neck or head injury. Slow motion replay showed that his head hit the oncoming Fitzroy players knee.

 

I can't look at this 'John', it scares the hell out of me.

Whenever I see a player going head first into a tackle I just can't help but yell at the TV...I know Sachse was an accident but some players are trusting their luck by deliberately going into the oncoming tackler. These players need to get weeks for not only putting themselves at risk but also the poor player (tackler) who would also have to live with it for the rest of their lives.

Edited by rjay

 
14 hours ago, daisycutter said:

and how often did selwood end up with cuts and blood on his head from this technique. instead of people being worried about head injuries they kept saying how brave he was. he's been called duckwood for as long as i can remember.

Will he sue the AFL if he develops a brain injury after he’s retired? 

 
1 hour ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Macca, I agree. The point I was making is that the AFL has to manage the game's evolution to ensure it continues to be enjoyable and safe for the players. The mantra that the AFL should not make rule changes and "leave the game alone" just doesn't make any sense to me.

If it were left to the coaches, they would ruin the game as a spectacle.

 

It's  360° game so the rules are always going to be exploited ... we may be just witnessing the tip of the iceberg

Need better custodians

1 hour ago, monoccular said:

"The custodians can't just stand idly by and only concentrate on the money and the revenues.."

 

Maybe this is exactly what they are thinking about now .... retrospective law suits and payouts because they have failed in their duty of care.

It's always about the money but if you've got great systems, structures & standards the money will flow as a matter of course

So the custodians wait for the proverbial to hit the fan before acting?  Bad governance


1 hour ago, Robbie57 said:

Bevo says its a media beat up:

https://www.afl.com.au/news/802956/bevo-blasts-afl-over-head-high-tackle-crackdown

Sorry Danger and Bevo in my view you need to get the rose (freekick) coloured glasses off. In Bevo's case lets call a duck a duck rather than blame the media.

 

Bevo rambles on like he's on the p....

I don't know how his players understand what he's on about.

...and Danger has skin (Selwood) in the game.

3 hours ago, Robbie57 said:

Bevo says its a media beat up:

https://www.afl.com.au/news/802956/bevo-blasts-afl-over-head-high-tackle-crackdown

Sorry Danger and Bevo in my view you need to get the rose (freekick) coloured glasses off. In Bevo's case lets call a duck a duck rather than blame the media.

I could name at least half a dozen bulldogs players that lift the arm like Ginnivan does.

Apparently, Scott said that Selwood is merely 'evading the tackle' not 'leaning into the tackle'!  What a joke of a comment!  He says we have a league wide problem with players lifting their arms/dropping knees etc but not at his club!

Both coaches have a lot invested as their players get a lot of cheap frees so no wonder they want to keep the status quo.  Both clubs' players would be the worst at staging for various types of frees'

Edited by Lucifers Hero

2 hours ago, rjay said:

Bevo rambles on like he's on the p....

I don't know how his players understand what he's on about.

...and Danger has skin (Selwood) in the game.

Bevo needs to think more about why he's not under the slightest bit of pressure for his job. 

 
9 hours ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Was there no player before Selwood who dropped at the knees and/or raised the arms to get a head-high free kick? He may be the most proficient, but I find it hard to believe that Selwood was the first. Having said that, I can't think of anyone.

I can't think of anyone either ... but the only  staging for high contact way back when was generally ducking the head and back in the day, at all levels, that practice was frowned upon and those who ducked their heads were generally pinged for holding the ball

Most of the other staging was for holding the man with players regularly having their arms outstretched (flapping) to accentuate the contact (every now and again Clarrie does it and it always looks comical! ... and it never works!)

Diving forward after being tackled from behind was also practised a fair bit as was accentuating a push in the back in marking contests

But the game was much more open decades ago so the umps had a far greater chance to differentiate what was authentic and what wasn't authentic

Nowadays, there are a myriad of players around numerous contests so the sport is now indinitely more difficult to adjudicate correctly

There's cause & effect at play here and the first thing I'd do is reduce the amount of players on the field to 16 a side.  And slash the interchange numbers by at least half

Make the game more open and free flowing and then it's way easier for the umpires ... and the umpires should be full time as well (part time umpires in a fully professional league doesn't make sense)

But the umpires aren't at fault with all the staging for high contact that goes on ... it's a rules of the game issue (AFL)

Edited by Macca


Sorry this comes from TikTok, I couldn’t find a YouTube version, but how was this not a high tackle? Sure enough the first two he ducks and it’s rightly called play on, the third tackle is a still a high tackle:

 

 

Now that this Selwood rule is in, surely Joel retires after the usual Cats prelim exit this year?

10 years of top 4 and 1 GF loss to show for it.  It's an equalised comp Cats, go down and take your lumps like the rest of us

Just listening to McGuire comment on this subject, he's sooooooooooo full of [censored].

Expect a raft of broken jaws and concussions from here on because of the rule change, an absolute clown!

5 minutes ago, Larry, Moe or Curly said:

Just listening to McGuire comment on this subject, he's sooooooooooo full of [censored].

Expect a raft of broken jaws and concussions from here on because of the rule change, an absolute clown!

Eddie never makes any sense when he goes into supporter mode

Tries to justify his alarmist comments with more alarmist conclusions

He's a walking contradiction

I'm not sure I've ever met a reasonably minded Collingwood supporter though.  They are all a law unto themselves with chips on their shoulders the size of Mars

15 hours ago, Macca said:

I can't think of anyone either ... but the only  staging for high contact way back when was generally ducking the head and back in the day, at all levels, that practice was frowned upon and those who ducked their heads were generally pinged for holding the ball

Most of the other staging was for holding the man with players regularly having their arms outstretched (flapping) to accentuate the contact (every now and again Clarrie does it and it always looks comical! ... and it never works!)

Diving forward after being tackled from behind was also practised a fair bit as was accentuating a push in the back in marking contests

But the game was much more open decades ago so the umps had a far greater chance to differentiate what was authentic and what wasn't authentic

Nowadays, there are a myriad of players around numerous contests so the sport is now indinitely more difficult to adjudicate correctly

There's cause & effect at play here and the first thing I'd do is reduce the amount of players on the field to 16 a side.  And slash the interchange numbers by at least half

Make the game more open and free flowing and then it's way easier for the umpires ... and the umpires should be full time as well (part time umpires in a fully professional league doesn't make sense)

But the umpires aren't at fault with all the staging for high contact that goes on ... it's a rules of the game issue (AFL)

The other form of staging which is less prevalent today was when players claimed to have touched a ball on its way through the goals. Video review technology, while imperfect, has probably stopped a lot of the more egregious claims.  

I wouldn't reduce the number of players on the ground to 16, but I would consider reducing interchange numbers drastically either by getting rid of interchange altogether and replacing it with player exchange (like the old 19th and 20th men), or limiting it to something like four per quarter (plus additional for blood rule and potential concussions), or reducing the number of players in interchange from four plus the sub to two. or some combination of these measures.


13 hours ago, Kick_It_To_Pickett said:

Sorry this comes from TikTok, I couldn’t find a YouTube version, but how was this not a high tackle? Sure enough the first two he ducks and it’s rightly called play on, the third tackle is a still a high tackle:

 

 

All three are free kicks as, in each case,  the initial tackle was high and Kozzie's ducking did not move the tackler's arm to over the shoulder.

The test is always where the initial contact was made.

Edited by tiers
Incomplete

Surely the determining factor should simply be between:

- player down to collect the ball and taken high - high tackle

- player with the ball already, sees tackle coming and ducks - holding the ball

On 7/20/2022 at 2:51 PM, rjay said:

Bevo rambles on like he's on the p....

I don't know how his players understand what he's on about.

...and Danger has skin (Selwood) in the game.

It is a pity that Bevo missed the 1983 TV Week Dynasty/Dallas special.

Especially, the ten top tips for Evil Twins,  

1/  The goatee beard sort of gives the game away

2/  Wind back the crazy talk

3 to 10/  it's the beard again.


Jack Ginnivan gets a high free denied and the media goes berserk with outrage. Just another example of media flogging a horse from both ends. He did go low and raised his arm to draw the high free though the tackle may have gone high to start with. 50/50 call but the correct decision IMO. Helps further discourage players going in low and raising arm in tackle.

https://twitter.com/FOXFOOTY/status/1551081604302327810?s=20&t=K0hqUD1layOKnUki0gRigQ

Edited by John Crow Batty

On 7/25/2022 at 11:53 AM, John Crow Batty said:


Jack Ginnivan gets a high free denied and the media goes berserk with outrage. Just another example of media flogging a horse from both ends. He did go low and raised his arm to draw the high free though the tackle may have gone high to start with. 50/50 call but the correct decision IMO. Helps further discourage players going in low and raising arm in tackle.

https://twitter.com/FOXFOOTY/status/1551081604302327810?s=20&t=K0hqUD1layOKnUki0gRigQ

Spot on, JCB

He quickly lowered his centre of gravity by about 25cm - 30cm as well as leaning his head into the tackler ... 100% the correct decision

Most tackles are around the elbow area (pin the arms) which is about 25cm lower than the neck area

The lingering high contact? All Ginnevan's doing ... he plays for frees and is a cheat

The bleating is just typical ... any excuse to blame the umpires.  It's quite pathetic

 


The AFL admitting the so-called error (Ginnevan high contact) is just bowing to public pressure in my view

Another typically weak way of dealing with the cheating that has been going on for decades now

To counteract against the new ruling players might want to free both arms above their head, take the tackle in the midriff and then release the ball with an effective handpass ... Geoff Raines was a specialist at doing the above ... Robbie Flower as well (on occasions)

 

On 7/25/2022 at 11:53 AM, John Crow Batty said:


Jack Ginnivan gets a high free denied and the media goes berserk with outrage. Just another example of media flogging a horse from both ends. He did go low and raised his arm to draw the high free though the tackle may have gone high to start with. 50/50 call but the correct decision IMO. Helps further discourage players going in low and raising arm in tackle.

https://twitter.com/FOXFOOTY/status/1551081604302327810?s=20&t=K0hqUD1layOKnUki0gRigQ

incorrect call

i've watched it slo-mo frame by frame.  essendon player went in too high. no question. there was no arm raised to push it high.i don't think ginnivan went low before first contact which was high to begin with.

13 minutes ago, daisycutter said:

incorrect call

i've watched it slo-mo frame by frame.  essendon player went in too high. no question. there was no arm raised to push it high.i don't think ginnivan went low before first contact which was high to begin with.

[May have been mentioned earlier.]

I think he leant into the tackle. This lowers his shoulder, places his head into the tackler and puts his main body area in a position that is less capable of being hit.

Not exactly bending the knees, nor raising the arm, though possibly the lean is more effective. 

He plays for the frees. 

Edited by kev martin

 
9 minutes ago, daisycutter said:

incorrect call

i've watched it slo-mo frame by frame.  essendon player went in too high. no question. there was no arm raised to push it high.i don't think ginnivan went low before first contact which was high to begin with.

 

On 7/25/2022 at 11:53 AM, John Crow Batty said:

Just another example of media flogging a horse from both ends

 

13 minutes ago, Macca said:

The AFL admitting the so-called error (Ginnevan high contact) is just bowing to public pressure in my view

 

It might have been an incorrect call...I thought he dropped but couldn't find the slo-mo.

More importantly it didn't need to be addressed by the AFL and the media only beat it up for Collingwood views..

Since when do the AFL comment on every 50/50 decision being made.

They have addressed the issue last week and that should be it. If you are a serial ducker, dropper, actor then you can expect to be on the wrong side of some of these.

The carping on from Collingwood and the Dogs is a pain in the a...

28 minutes ago, daisycutter said:

incorrect call

i've watched it slo-mo frame by frame.  essendon player went in too high. no question. there was no arm raised to push it high.i don't think ginnivan went low before first contact which was high to begin with.

 

Watch it again and watch Ginnevan's knees and watch his hips ... and take note of how he leans his head against the tackler

As previously stated ... only about 25cm - 30cm of lowering is required to milk high contact

And the umpire was on to it

A great decision

Edited by Macca


Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

Featured Content

  • NON-MFC: 2026 Opening Round

    Finally the 2026 AFL Premiership Season is upon us. While Melbourne sits out Opening Round, there is still plenty of footy to enjoy with five non-MFC clashes to kick off the new season. It all begins on Thursday night with a blockbuster at the SCG as Sydney hosts Carlton in what should be a strong early test for both sides. On Friday night, Gold Coast gets its chance to open the season in front of a home crowd when the Suns and Christian Petracca take on Geelong at People First Stadium. Saturday features a double-header, starting in the afternoon with Greater Western Sydney and Clayton Oliver meeting the Hawks at Engie Stadium. That is followed on Saturday night by Brisbane Lions hosting the Western Bulldogs at the Gabba, with the Lions embarking on their campaign to win the Threepeat. Opening Round wraps up on Sunday night at the MCG, where St Kilda takes on Collingwood in the only game in town in the first week of the season. There is no shortage of storylines across the round, so discuss all the action from the non-MFC games of Opening Round.

      • Like
    • 121 replies
  • PREGAME: St. Kilda

    With just over two weeks until their opening match of the 2026 AFL Premiership season, the Demons are already well on the path to redemption and have the Saints firmly in their sights ahead of their mid-March clash at the MCG. What do you think the team will look like when they run out on to the G?

      • Clap
      • Haha
      • Thanks
    • 130 replies
  • REPORT: Richmond

    Mars is not usually a place known for lighting strikes but on Friday evening it happened twice in the vicinity of the stadium in Ballarat that carries the name and is a half completed building site with limited capacity for spectators.

    • 4 replies
  • POSTGAME: Richmond

    The Dees ran another clinic for the second week in a row as they easily accounted for the Tigers in the lightning interrupted shortened match at Mars Stadium in Ballarat.

      • Like
    • 118 replies
  • VOTES: Richmond

    Kozzy Pickett was the man of the match last week and has a vote lead over backup ruck Max Heath who didn't play this week and 5 votes over former Saint Jack Steele. Who gets the votes in this weeks shortened match win over the Tigers? Your votes please. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 & 1.

      • Like
    • 15 replies
  • GAMEDAY: Richmond

    It's Game Day and the 2026 AFL Premiership season is almost upon us as the Demons take to the field for their final practice match before the first ball is kicked in anger in 16 days time. What are you expecting to see from the Dees today as they take on the Tigers at Mars Stadium in Ballarat?

      • Haha
    • 337 replies

Account

Navigation

Search

Search

Configure browser push notifications

Chrome (Android)
  1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
  2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
  3. Adjust your preference.
Chrome (Desktop)
  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.