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Aker right on taggers: Matthews
By Peter Blucher
Brisbane
March 23, 2004
Brisbane Lions coach Leigh Matthews yesterday supported midfielder Jason Akermanis's assessment that taggers were being allowed to get away with persistent scragging tactics off the ball.
Akermanis, set to confront Sydney shutdown specialist Jared Crouch on Saturday night, branded Crouch the AFL's worst tagger and said fans were being cheated out of seeing the best players in action by opponents repeatedly breaking the laws.
Matthews, often floored by inflammatory Akermanis comments, this time agreed with the outspoken Lions star. "What he says is true. The game has trouble picking up those indiscretions because there is just not enough umpires and too many players," he said.
"It is an issue. If you had enough umpires to watch every player on the ground, taggers would be being free-kicked all the time. But the fact is you've got umpires with two eyes in the middle of about 15 pairs of players.
"Because the free kicks close to goal are deemed to be so critical, there's one umpire in the middle virtually umpiring probably 12 pairs of players and one umpire at each end umpiring probably three pairs of players.
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"Those free kicks, those little jumper pulls you see defenders being free-kicked for regularly, are happening around the contest by the tagging-type player all the time. But the umpire can only pay what he sees."
Asked if he would be speak to Akermanis about his capacity to grab headlines, Matthews replied: "Most weeks probably." But not this week.
"This is Jason's way of getting on the front foot in what he thinks will be his individual contest. Sometimes I'm unhappy with what Jason says - he knows that, you know that - this isn't one of them. If he wants to do that, it's his entitlement. I don't think it creates any baggage for the rest of us.
"After the game on Saturday night people will either say 'Jason got on the front foot and played well' or 'Jason gave Jared Crouch ammunition and played badly'. Jason doesn't mind putting himself on the line in that regard. He's got enough courage to say what he thinks."
Meanwhile, Justin Leppitsch could be pitch-forked into a stunning round-one comeback on Saturday after Matthews confirmed Alastair Lynch had joined the walking wounded in the Lions' big-man department.
Matthews yesterday revealed that Lynch, who pulled a thigh muscle last Wednesday, was an "unlikely" starter against Sydney unless he recovered rapidly.
So, with Jonathan Brown suspended, the question for Matthews is whether he can afford to go in without three of his four grand final key-position "talls".
Leppitsch, who had a shoulder reconstruction in late October, hasn't played for six months but has been doing most training since January. He has been cleared to resume after a mandatory five-month rehabilitation.
"It's a selection decision," said Matthews. "Does he play in the reserves or the seniors, given that he hasn't been able to play any competitive games to this point? We'll go through it during the week with the medical staff.
"Is he at more risk playing seniors than reserves? My information at this early stage is no - we reckon he's ready to play. We're putting him in the field. We're putting him out there in combat. Use him as you see fit.
"But to play round one when you haven't played at all to this point, there's only a handful of players you'd consider that with."
The option for Leppitsch is an AFLQ practice match for the Lions reserves. More likely, if Lynch is out, he'll find himself at full-forward against the Swans, with Martin Pike filling Brown's spot at centre half-forward and Daniel Bradshaw at centre half-back.
Also under a cloud this week is four-game premiership team member Richard Hadley, who has missed the past three weeks with a small wrist fracture.
Second-year defender Anthony Corrie and newcomers Jed Adcock and Matthew Moody are in the mix for a possible debut.
By Peter Blucher
Brisbane
March 23, 2004
Brisbane Lions coach Leigh Matthews yesterday supported midfielder Jason Akermanis's assessment that taggers were being allowed to get away with persistent scragging tactics off the ball.
Akermanis, set to confront Sydney shutdown specialist Jared Crouch on Saturday night, branded Crouch the AFL's worst tagger and said fans were being cheated out of seeing the best players in action by opponents repeatedly breaking the laws.
Matthews, often floored by inflammatory Akermanis comments, this time agreed with the outspoken Lions star. "What he says is true. The game has trouble picking up those indiscretions because there is just not enough umpires and too many players," he said.
"It is an issue. If you had enough umpires to watch every player on the ground, taggers would be being free-kicked all the time. But the fact is you've got umpires with two eyes in the middle of about 15 pairs of players.
"Because the free kicks close to goal are deemed to be so critical, there's one umpire in the middle virtually umpiring probably 12 pairs of players and one umpire at each end umpiring probably three pairs of players.
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"Those free kicks, those little jumper pulls you see defenders being free-kicked for regularly, are happening around the contest by the tagging-type player all the time. But the umpire can only pay what he sees."
Asked if he would be speak to Akermanis about his capacity to grab headlines, Matthews replied: "Most weeks probably." But not this week.
"This is Jason's way of getting on the front foot in what he thinks will be his individual contest. Sometimes I'm unhappy with what Jason says - he knows that, you know that - this isn't one of them. If he wants to do that, it's his entitlement. I don't think it creates any baggage for the rest of us.
"After the game on Saturday night people will either say 'Jason got on the front foot and played well' or 'Jason gave Jared Crouch ammunition and played badly'. Jason doesn't mind putting himself on the line in that regard. He's got enough courage to say what he thinks."
Meanwhile, Justin Leppitsch could be pitch-forked into a stunning round-one comeback on Saturday after Matthews confirmed Alastair Lynch had joined the walking wounded in the Lions' big-man department.
Matthews yesterday revealed that Lynch, who pulled a thigh muscle last Wednesday, was an "unlikely" starter against Sydney unless he recovered rapidly.
So, with Jonathan Brown suspended, the question for Matthews is whether he can afford to go in without three of his four grand final key-position "talls".
Leppitsch, who had a shoulder reconstruction in late October, hasn't played for six months but has been doing most training since January. He has been cleared to resume after a mandatory five-month rehabilitation.
"It's a selection decision," said Matthews. "Does he play in the reserves or the seniors, given that he hasn't been able to play any competitive games to this point? We'll go through it during the week with the medical staff.
"Is he at more risk playing seniors than reserves? My information at this early stage is no - we reckon he's ready to play. We're putting him in the field. We're putting him out there in combat. Use him as you see fit.
"But to play round one when you haven't played at all to this point, there's only a handful of players you'd consider that with."
The option for Leppitsch is an AFLQ practice match for the Lions reserves. More likely, if Lynch is out, he'll find himself at full-forward against the Swans, with Martin Pike filling Brown's spot at centre half-forward and Daniel Bradshaw at centre half-back.
Also under a cloud this week is four-game premiership team member Richard Hadley, who has missed the past three weeks with a small wrist fracture.
Second-year defender Anthony Corrie and newcomers Jed Adcock and Matthew Moody are in the mix for a possible debut.
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