I tried to post this on the most appropriate blog – our host at ubersportingpundit central – but couldn’t log in – so you’ll have to put up with me venting spleen here.
Probably the best thing that’s happened to Australian soccer took place during the third quarter of the AFL game between Brisbane and Saint Kilda.
Riewoldt jarred his shoulder in a collision with Jamie Charman and then damaged it further when he spilled a diving chest mark. Just to ensure it was an injury to remember, Brisbane’s Chris Scott and then Mal Michael cannoned into him. It was an extraordinary show of gamesmanship that looked more like a tag-team wrestling match than a game of football.
Now those of you who’ve read something of what I’ve written about rugby will remember I don’t mind a bit of bif. Two fit and healthy men standing toe to toe belting each other is the natural extension of a contact sport. And, contrary to what some mothers will tell you at a dinner party, I don’t think most people, both males and females, have a problem with the odd stoush on the footy field.
But what happened last night is beyond the pale ! Watching him so dejected and crying in the stand, I understand the temptation to run onto the field and fix up Charman, Scott and Michael. Indeed, I think less of Nick’s team mates that they didn’t do something in retaliation. I was especially concerned by Mathews’ attitude when questioned after the game. I’ve alway thought him a hard man, but always fair. His remarks (or lack of them) about what happened make me think otherwise. I hope that this is not a precursor to what will happen in the future if Brisbane can’t field a full-strength side. Has the mantra of “Win at any cost” become the new Lions team song?
If the Saint Kilda Football club don’t take civil action for assault they don’t deserve to keep the loyalty of their stars like Riewoldt.
The penalty handed out to Hopowate shows that the NRL, and in particular Manly Club, seem to be serious about stamping out thuggery off the ball. I can just condone what Charman (No19) did, at least he made a pretence of going for the ball – but what happened as the injured player was leaving the playing arena – that’s just plain assault, and should be referred to the courts after the AFL tribunal has rubbed out the offenders for the remainder of the season.
It posted on Ubersportingpundit fine. However, I do not think there’s much crossover readership between the two blogs so it was probably a good thing that you posted it on both blogs!
Wayne I saw the incident on tele and wouldn’t defend the Brisbane players for a moment. I simply don’t understand rulings on foul play in AFL.
I saw one player accidently touch another’s face and draw a penalty. I saw another swipe the other guy across the face but didn’t see it live. Did anything result? All I saw was the support guy with two teeth in his hand and heard the unseemly mirth of the commentators.
I agree 100% with the argument of the article. The look of Riewoldt when he was walking off the ground and was attacked was absolutely of shock. I think he could not believe what was happening. However, as a keen fan of world football (aka soccer) and Australian Rules Football (go Blues) I feel uneasy with comments such as:
Probably the best thing that’s happened to Australian soccer….etc.
I hope that world football in Australia does not have to rely on the misguided actions of players from other codes but gains its place in the sun by its own merits.
I also don’t like this World football vs AFL thing. Both can exist side by side without taking a Uber Alles winner takes all approach.
Missed it. But I agree with what Wayne says about a bit of biff. The toe to toe stuff looks a lot worse than it is. Few of those blokes can actually fight – with a few notable exceptions. Tony Mundine was not to be trifled with and Ian Roberts rarely missed (or lost).
One of the best brawls ever was an NRL State of Origin match-up I remember between The King and Mark Guyer at the Cauldron. Thing of absolute beauty. (The Dowling-Tomati brawl was also something to behold – field, on the way off the field, in the dug-out, in the tunnel…).
However, it’s not always harmless and it is sometimes justifiably actionable. I once saw a fellow player king hit on the edges of a scrum; he came to training the following Monday in civies, unable to speak properly, carrying a small pair of wire cutters in case he had to vomit. He was wired up with a seriously broken jaw. No action taken. The old rule was ‘what happens on the field stays on the…’ And that was for love of playing totally amateur Union.
That was bullshit. What happened to him that day was NOT good.
A bizarre moment of ‘sport’.
I just heard a Brereton comment on the boob tube tonight, reckons this sort of thing is normal, happens all the time, part of game.. bla blah.
Bullshit.
Riewoldt was obviously badly injured and in so much pain he wasn’t thinking straight, at that point he was certainly not actively participating in the game.
If it was a diclocated shoulder the ‘tag-team’ twins could have caused a heap of permanent damage.
Start of last night’s game, I was hoping for a Lions win. Now, can’t wait to see the Lions get shafted this season.
To ease my anger over this incident, I’ll do my best to recall being at the MCG late last year, full-time, chanting, ‘Cho-cko, Cho-cko’.
While I agree it was unacceptable, I think you are going way overboard calling for them to be charged with assault, or even to be given lengthy suspensions. I also dont see why the whole team should be blamed for the actions of a few players. This doesnt change my view of the Lions at all.
These were disgusting and totally unpsortsmanlike examples of thuggery and criminal assault. Mal Michael admitted he KNEW Riewolt was walking off injured and was “testing out” the injury. Thus his action didn’t even take place in the context of a football game. It was a premeditated assault on a person he knew had withdrawn from the game. He should be charged, and face a long suspension (although maybe not the whole season). I don’t know about Chris Scott; I didn’t see his act even in replay.
I strongly suspect that Brisbane had a game plan to “get” Riewolt by fair means or foul, but you can’t really penalise an entire club without evidence rather than just suspicion. Anyway, suspending both Michael and Scott for 8-10 weeks would substantially penalise the whole club.
I think the AFL needs to recognise that this is the sort of incident that will bring the whole game into disrepute if not stamped on severely. It isn’t just part of the game, as that moron Dermott Brereton is supposed to have said. It’s the sort of incident that, if condoned by inaction (or inadequate action), would have many parents concluding that they don’t want their kids involved in a game that models such repulsive values.
I saw this on TV last night and it was a brutal incident. The justifications I heard by the players involved (and Mathews silence I regard as complicity) were pathetic.
It will be interesting to see what action the AFL takes. The NRL with Hopoate and the Danny Williams king hit last year has shown the way with foul play. Go outside the rules and you are punished.
You can play hard in NRL and AFL. I don’t mind that and teams should be allowed to play hard inside the confines of rules. A hard physical game can be quite a good spectacle. This was gamesmanship taken too far and it became thuggery. They both deserve a long suspension.
There is an article about the incident in the Courier Mail today at:
http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,12656428%255E10389,00.html
Matthews was trying to normalise the incident, calling it “the most overblown incident in footy”.
“It’s ridiculous,” Matthews said. “Players bounce off each other all the time and it’s not as if they ran from 20 to 100m away to get him.
“They would have known he was sore, but they would not have known he had a broken collarbone.”
Matthews said the Riewoldt incident must be kept in perspective. No trainer or doctor was attending to the player and had the ball been in the vicinity he most likely would have contested possession.
“It’s not two players changing ends in tennis,” Matthews said.
“I don’t think they were going in to do him any harm and he was just another player on the field.”
Luke Power was running the line that if you are out there you’re 100% fit and you’re fair game.
Certainly if you were coming back from injury in Rugby League you’d expect the injury to be tested (well mostly, depending on the injury.)
I don’t watch enough AFL to be able to assess the heinousness the of the Brisbane players actions. I know I didn’t like it, but I don’t see any reason for a lot of the off-ball stuff in AFL. It’s irritating at the very least to see two blokes pushing and shoving and shirt-fronting each other when the ball is nowhere near. Maybe the rule should be that the other player’s body is off-limits unless the ball is in the air and heading in your direction.
This will probably get me in trouble, but I’m not convinced this incident is the heinous act many people are suggesting.
To me, it depends on whether Riewoldt was running off the field injured, or trying to play on. From the (admittedly incomplete) things I’ve seen and read, it seems it was the latter, in which case it may be unpleasant but hardly unusual in top line footy. ‘Testing out’ an opposing player’s fitness is not uncommon in all football codes, whether it is someone taking the field with a known or rumoured injury, or someone playing on after appearing to suffer an injury. I have sympathy with Brian’s view, but it would require an impossible shift in the culture and nature of the sport. I honestly think it would be impossible to play the game with the fierce commitment and lack of interest in self-preservation that the best teams (like the Lions) and players (like Riewoldt) do if that sort of ‘keepings-off’ requirement was adopted.
However, if Riewoldt was clearly running off the field injured, it is a very different situation and the Brisbane players should face a significant suspension. Usually a player leaving the field injured is escorted by a runner or trainer, but I didn’t see one in the picture when the incidents happened.
As usual, I can see a link between all this and federal politics. One of the things I begrudgingly admire John Howard for is his total commitment, discipline, toughness and unflagging perseverance, coupled with a strong guard against hubris. I think the Lions have set similar benchmarks in AFL. On the other hand, one of the things about John Howard I despise is that he clearly does not ‘play’ by the rules, will exploit any advantage however unfair, dishonest, destructive or damaging to others and his win at all costs attitude means there is no concern for the wider damage to individuals or to the reputation of the ‘game’ (i.e democracy). I’ve lived my whole life in Brisbane so no doubt I’m biased, but I don’t see much sign of that in the Brisbane Lions. However, keeping their approach on the ‘hard but fair’ side of the line requires continual vigilence, and if there was deliberate bumping of an injured player as he was leaving the field, then it should be cracked down on – I’m not sure I could cope if the Lions became the John Howard of the AFL (which I guess I could use as one consolation in not winning 4 in a row last year)
By the way, by far the best thing that’s happened to Australian soccer for a long time is not this incident, it’s the decision to admit Australia to the Asian confederation. (some political analogies I could draw there too, but I’ve probably already overdone that)
Yes, Andrew, but I watched the soccer tonight and I was continually waiting for something to happen, althought things did look a bit more purposeful after they made a couple of subs in the second half.
Soccer is absolutely no threat to AFL.
Consider the average member of an AFL club. Do you think that they are likely to toss in their membership to watch soccer even if the local clubs could afford to bring in the best Australian players? Not a chance.
Andrew, I neglected to say that that was an impressive analysis of the topic of the post, together with an interesting analogy with politics. Clearly you are not just a pretty face!
There is a bunch of articles on the Riewoldt incident in today’s Sunday Mail. It does seem clear now that Riewoldt was running back into position to resume play. He didn’t know the full extent of his injuries, nor could the Brisbane players. Scott’s story goes thus:
“If the question you’re asking is did we go after a guy who was clearly injured then the answer is no,” Scott said. “He was clearly affected, but did we know he had a broken collarbone? No.
“If every time a guy goes up for a mark and gets up a bit gingerly and then runs back to his position, if that means he’s untouchable it makes for a very grey area.
“He was running back into position to continue playing the game. Now if the ball comes down and he goes for the ball, do we go easy on him?”
Scott said he spoke briefly with Riewoldt after the game and said no bad words had passed between the pair
“Let the poor bloke be, I say. It’s not unmanly or unseemly to show emotion.”
Says you, and let’s face it – you’re hardly renowned for your overt masculinity. 99% of Australian men think he’s a little ponce for crying on TV.
99% of Australian men can be wrong. Also if you read the articles quite a few people, including some noted tough men, thought it was OK by them. So i’d dispute your 99%.
“…let’s face it – you’re hardly renowned for your overt masculinity.”
You don’t know me and you’re being more than usually ridiculous!
As I said, you’re hardly an authority on what’s manly or not, yet you’re still willing to say that 99% are wrong, because there’s no possible way that you could be.
Men can cry when a relative, good friend or a dog dies. Crying is acceptable in sport when you lose the grand final – and that’s the only time.
Remember the Tom Hanks movie – “There’s no crying in baseball!”
Yobbo, you can’t possibly say 99% of men take a particular position without evidence.
But have it your own way, I’m outa here!
So where does Kim Hughes fit into this?
Graham, I guess it depends whether you can lead, and retain the respect of the led, with tears in your eyes.
As a Power man I commented on Wayne’s post and would raise one point again here-
The game has changed from the Dermie/Lyons view that the biffo is OK nowadays. I grew up in the ‘good old days’ of the Crackers Keenans and Dave Grangers (Port Magpies man of course) and it was the applauded thing. What changed that view was the comprehensive coverage of every game from every angle and the slow-mo replay. What we had thought was manliness was really exposed as king hitting and gutlessly taking out players with their eyes on the ball.
Also the game at AFL level is now totally professional, where we draft 18yr olds, try to put 30yr old heads on their shoulders in a couple of seasons, train them like Olympians and discard them as burned out at 28yrs, unless they are exceptional talents. If the Jana Pitmans suffer the injuries they do with their training regimes, the addition of contact sport magnifies soft tissue injuries horrifically. The last I heard the average number of games played by an AFL footballer was 42 games, in a 22 game minor round series. Think carefully about that statistic wannabes.
The sporting quest for the Holy Grail can see double knee reconstructions for the Michael Wilsons, Josh Francous and Matthew Primuses. Stress fractures from the training track for the Andy McLeods and smashed cheekbones for the James Hirds, as well as tears for the Max Hudghtons and Matthew Primuses as I recall. If you think, well that’s what they get well paid for, then spare a thought for amateurs like Fiona Pointon in my daughter’s sport of netball. For 5 seasons she sat on the Thunderbirds bench as understudy for national captain Kathryn Harby and in a pre-season trial game, after the year Kath retired she goes down with a cruciate ligament and out for the season. All this injury and high drama and none of it malicious or deliberate.
Now let’s look at deliberately malicious or very risky. No tripping Dustin Fletcher, because of broken ankles or knee reconstructions. No punches to the head Jason Cloke. No elbows to the face Mark Bickley. No round the neck generally, no spear tackles Peter Burgoyne, or head on bumps Byron Pickett, because we remember Neil Sachse’s broken neck and wheelchair. We may argue the toss about the circumstances and the length of the penalty, but not the wisdom of the rules.
Now every team has their moments when a player crosses the line and we remember more vividly the ones where injury does result. The question I think many are asking about Brisbane now, is whether or not a whole club is beginning to cross the line. Friday night as a whole looked pretty damning to me, coming closely on top of the behaviour of Brown and Lynch late last season. I think it points to one man who is living in the ugly past and not facing up to new realities. It’s time he was made to, before he taints permanently, the reputations of many great players of the current era.
In the latest contribution on this issue in the Courier Mail “Riewoldt comes to defence of Lions pair”:
http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,12672194%255E10389,00.html
So the man himself confirms he didn’t know he was badly hurt, hence the Lions wouldn’t have either.
Observa’s statistics are disturbing and I find it hard to wrap my mind around them. I suspect that modern training methods across all sports are pushing players to the limit. They reach a threshhold where injuries become more likely. I think this is evident in cricket, where new standards of fitness have been the norm since Bob Simpson coached the Australian team, in squash since Geoff Hunt, in tennis since Ivan Lendl etc.
As for Leigh Matthews, he’s a smart coach IMO and doesn’t coach to have his players suspended on the sidelines. In last year’s grand final there was a combination of a very talented Port team, frustration as the dream of a fourth premiership slipped away and some clever niggle, which you’d have to think was intentional and coached, on the part of a few Port players.
Alistair Lynch completely lost it and embarrassed himself comprehensively as well as every-one associated with the team. Had he not retired Matthews would have been apoplectic over his stupidity.
Browne got suckered too and Matthews gave him a clear public warning that his value to the team and the amount he could expect to be paid was being depreciated by spending so much time as a spectator.
I think Matthews’ main focus in coaching is on the speeed, skill and flair that the Lions show us plenty of. Beyond that he has outstanding talents in managing the team on and off the field, in tactics, match-ups, deployment of personnel etc. There does seem to be a problem in aggression management, however, given the personnel he has.
Let’s face it, if Riewoldt had come out and said “I was helpless and reeling around and two thugs who should have their passports taken away from them and their childhood homes ploughed into the ground sadistically whacked me because I was vulnerable and they wanted to put me out of my sport”
the sky would fall in.
The parade of “it was nuffink and I didn’t feel a thing as he put his fingers in my eyes” liars fronting the tribunal is pathetic.
And unmasculine, IMHO.
Thanks Andrew and Brian. Riewoldt’s statement tempers my view somewhat and I consider the actions of the Lions’ players to be legitimate (though pushing the boundaries). Apart form the Swans, I don’t follow AFL with the same intensity as I do league. Observa’s comments on the Lions are interesting as I do believe that the coach (or the club) has to take responsibility for the actions of their playing staff on or off the field.
The Bulletin article below may serve a compliment to observa’s observations.
http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/bulletin/site/articleIDs/4026E7A29F5926F0CA256FCA008275EF
Anyway it looks like Warnie twitchy, texting thumbs have him in trouble again. Looks like he’ll be going overseas on his own.
The AFL review people have cleared Michael and Scott, according to Fox Footy.
While some here seem willing to build a gallows and hang Matthews, Michael and Scott, I was thinking that a charge of unduly rough play was the most that could be leveled. After a weekend’s reflection, I’m not even sure that could be sustained.
That, by the way, seems to be the general consensus of players. Most of the ‘hanging’ squad come from outside the game.
Former Bulldog STeve Kretiuk, who did something similar to this to Matthew Lloyd in 2002, didn’t get any suspension either. And no one worried too much about that (except Essendon supporters…)
The more I think about it, the more I smell the hand of Eddie MacGuire in this. And the general TV company desire to maximise controversy and interest in AFL. That has certainly worked.
Graham: Even the most parochial of Western Australians – many of whom still consider Kim Hughes the best test captain in history – think him a bit of a girl for having a cry on TV.
Yobbo: If they could suspend their judgement enough to think Hughes the best test captian in history then I would not trust their judgement on him crying on TV.
One of the most courageous AFL players – James Hird – was seen to cry when he incurred a serious injury a few years ago (this was before the horrific head injury that would have convinced many player to hang up their boots). I don’t recall anyone criticising him, so I think its a bit tough to criticise Reiwoldt.
“Kim Hughes the best test captain in history”
Even Terry Schiavo would have enough cognitive power to realise Kim Hughes was the worst test captain in history.
As for the Riewoldt incident, preumably it’s now OK that the next time an AFL player does his knee, an opposition player can give his leg a twist, just to make sure the ligaments are completely severed.
I was under the impression Riewoldt was leaving the field when he was charged/shouldered by Michael and Scott. It makes a difference that he was in fact going back to his position on the field. However, even then, if it’s OK under the culture of AFL to attack a player away from play in order to “test out” an injury, then that culture needs to be seriously re-examined. The fact that numerous boofheaded old players reckon it’s perfectly OK doesn’t impress me at all. A lot of them probably still think it’s OK to gang-bang young women and racially abuse opponents too.
The Bulletin article is illuminating as to the trends in modern footy and sport in general. The average AFL games played is a damning statistic for young draftees who are ecstatic at first hearing their name called, but the median games played would be much higher of course. Many draftees will not cut it at AFL and hardly play a game. They will lower the average for all. Nevertheless, they will quickly come to understand only too well, the limited career of the elite athlete and the immediate news to a player like Riewoldt, that he may be out of action for a third of a season, can be as devastating to them as perhaps the news to we mere mortals, that an injury/illness means a couple of years off work for us. Think about that for a Matthew Primus on a stretcher in tears last year, realising his rehab had just been doubled to 2 seasons. Maturity, courage and experience count for nothing under such circumstances. Just be aware that in Riewoldt’s tears case, he has come down from an enormous adrenalin high, playing in front of thousands. His tears were nothing to do with physical pain, which a jab had already seen to.
With a 21yr old footballer and an 18yr old elite netballer in the family, you do get an insiders view of the latest developments in sport. The professionalism of the AFLs(andRLs,etc) is constantly trickling down to the lower levels of junior and amateur sport. MasterO played SANFL U19s, but dropped out to play amateurs with many of the mates the year after, although the SANFL club was keen for him to continue. You could see his problem, having to be out the door and off to work at 6.30 with a full time job, while the SANFL coach(now an assistantAFL coach)wanted to train his butt off all week like an AFL player, in order to enhance the coach’s AFL career prospects. Unless MasterO or his mates were hungry for the AFL draft, they quickly lost interest in this process at the end of U19s.
I’ll give you an example of a training drill that a coach organised to impress upon some new young charges the need for toughness, after his completely different team had folded a bit in the finals the previous season. Four players on the points of a square while the coach tosses the ball up in the middle and they all charge in to take possession. When MasterO received a compressed AC joint for his efforts in being first to the ball on one occasion, I uncharacteristically had something to say to a coach. I didn’t need him showing my son how to be tough, when he had gained a best afield, fearless performance in an U17 GF. This despite five weeks earlier, having his jaw broken in a senior match, when the footy was trapped under his cheek, as a pack of grown men piled on top of him to ‘test’ him out a bit.
Ditto for the daughter, who played her first State League game at 15, mixing it with 30+yr olds sometimes. She was also playing U18s at 15 when a defender twice her width, tripped her on the asphalt at the line-up on a centre pass.(very unusual in netball but don’t think for one moment it’s a non-contact sport) A flashed look of surprised suspicion as a naive MsO couldn’t quite work out if it was deliberate or not. No doubt about it when she exclaimed ‘What the f— was that?’ as she was again spreadeagled unceremoniously a few minutes later. Game on, much to the consternation of the netball mums who hadn’t quite understood till then, why MsO was the young champion she was. MsO timed her lesson to perfection, as she put the villain into the goalpost and out of the match in tears with a sprained shoulder. Even I was as impressed as the umpire, by the butter wouldn’t melt in the mouth, concern MsO showed to the fallen. The only time I’ve ever seen her do anything untoward, for all the attention defenders pay her. She knows my views about that and she did glance nervously across at dad during the time out. Dad was cool.
Now Lethal’s a dad of sorts too and he knows all the facts about today’s elite athletes.
“I thought it was very unsportsmanlike behaviour. I was disappointed because I’m actually a great fan of the Lions.
“Most people I’ve spoken to over the weekend were very disappointed, and I’m sure if they (Michael and Scott) reflect on it, they wouldn’t do it again.”
Collingwood board member Sally Capp, speaking before yesterday’s clash with the Western Bulldogs, agreed. “I’ve got two young boys and I want them to grow up to play the ball and not the man. I want them to play with integrity,” she said. “The truth about what actually happened hasn’t come out, but if they lined him up knowing he’s hurt then that’s disappointing.”
Noleen Quinn, 38, said it was a disgrace. “I thought it was absolutely disgusting. I was very disappointed with Mal Michael, being an ex-Collingwood player, and he was very unapologetic after the game,” she said.
Bulldogs supporter Joy Hodgson labelled it un-Australian. “It was like kicking a guy while he’s down,” she said. “I nearly rang up a radio station and I’ve never done that, that’s how angry I was. They should be rubbed out.”
Lorna, 75, could sympathise with the Riewoldt family, who went to watch their son play his first game as captain. “I would hate to have been his mum in the stands watching,” she said. “It just wasn’t good for the game. He’s a ball player and a good player, and that’s why they go for him.”
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,12687143%255E19772,00.html
While I suspect that Eddie may have hyped the media the above remarks suggest that many, particularly females, didn’t see the incident in the same light as the tribunal. And, if the AFL want to continue to grow the number of junior participants in the game they should consider what mums think – because, in my experience, it’s the mums who decide what code little Johnny will play at age six.
BTW, where is the reference in the rules, guidance to the umpires, tribunal precendents, etc. etc. that allows “testing the injury”? Whether or not Riewoldt was ‘returning to his position’, it was a low blow to intentionally crash into his damaged shoulder.
I suspect that sooner or later some-one will initiate civil action after being assaulted for no other reason than they will have their income reduced as a result. It seems the AFL will continue to bury it’s collective heads until being forced to act by an unsympathetic judge.
It’s disgusting, they are sub human filth.
THe AFL’s hot air about changing its ways and cleaning up has been shown to be a litany of lies by their non reaction to this mindlessly violent disgrace.