Rnd 19 - vs Adelaide Crows at the SCG on Saturday at 1:45 PM, 23 July,

[AB Swannie]

I think it was energy levels, rather than skill. We've played so many night games in recent seasons that maybe the team's rhythm is more attuned to being "up" later in the day. But I suspect it's just that the team revs itself up more when it feels it has a real challenge on its hands. In some ways that's natural human behaviour, but it remains a challenge for the coaching team to get the team to properly focus regardless of the opposition. And that's not just an observation based on this season (or last). It's a pattern that has endured throughout at least the last decade or so. Maybe longer.

There is so much interconnectedness to these two terms that it is hard to disagree with you. A slight drop in intensity and a kick/handball misses a target by the same fraction.

[rb4x]

After six weeks though I think it is longer, Sheather and O'Riordan have been promoted to the injury list. Long overdue recognition though MacAndrew does not make it.

[Agent 86]

Wet lead in, wet day forecast and wet track.

Crows have poor skill level but crack in hard, so they're suited by the forecast conditions - shouldn't be, but could be, a danger game, particularly if we don't kick straight. Look at what happened to the Tigers last week!

They’re all danger games at this end of the season. I wonder if there is a stat for when the most upsets happen? My gut says the last 2-3 games of the regular season. Weird stuff also happens around the bye rounds.

My prediction is the Crows will get some help from the umps, but we’ll scrape home.

[707]

Hopefully the umpires can do what the AFL is asking and not pay those "assisted" high tackles, particularly in front of goal, they are the ones that really hurt teams.

Look at how many goals Ginivan has kicked from that crap interpretation and look at how many games the Pies have won by narrow margins this year. Those poor calls have given the Pies wins, and their opposition loses. Changes ladder positions.

[gloveski]

Hopefully the umpires can do what the AFL is asking and not pay those "assisted" high tackles, particularly in front of goal, they are the ones that really hurt teams.

Look at how many goals Ginivan has kicked from that crap interpretation and look at how many games the Pies have won by narrow margins this year. Those poor calls have given the Pies wins, and their opposition loses. Changes ladder positions.

I think it’s a long overdue call by the AFL . Someone is going to get seriously injured with the current practice. Gulden does it as well as anyone and I cringe every time he does it .


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[Mark26]

I think it’s a long overdue call by the AFL . Someone is going to get seriously injured with the current practice. Gulden does it as well as anyone and I cringe every time he does it .


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It's also known affectionately inside the Cattery as the Selwood Slump. Agree re: Gulden. George H was pretty handy at drawing these types of frees when he was with us too.

[Nico]

I think it’s a long overdue call by the AFL . Someone is going to get seriously injured with the current practice. Gulden does it as well as anyone and I cringe every time he does it .


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I don't think Gulden did it last week. Maybe he was told to give it away.

Ginnivan doesn't appear to be a team player at this point in his career. His first thought is to draw the free, not find a team mate in a better position. That one where he was done for HTB on the boundary line he had a player no.35 inboard, but he chose to duck. There is no way he was going to get around his opponent given he was centimetres inside the boundary. One thing for sure a lot of armchair experts who don't normally tune into Pies games will be watching Sunday, me included.

[Maltopia]

The way Ginnivan’s arm goes straight up in the air when he is tackled to make the defender’s arm slide up to his neck/head should be called as a staging free kick, as it isn’t a natural action to shrug a tackler in a way that results in your arm pointing that way.

When I mean should be called a free kick, I mean the rules need to be changed so it discourages players deliberately causing the tackler’s arms to hit your neck/head.

[Goal Sneak]

A lot of players raise their arms if they're going to be tackled to ensure their arms are free. The intention is to take the tackle, commit a defender and still be able to get a handball away. I don't see anything wrong with this approach. Defenders are trying to pin their arms so a player with the ball has every right to try and avoid that.

It's the players who have a premeditated tactic to drop as soon as they're touched that frustrate me. I agree with Nico that certain players look for a free first rather than taking an option with a teammate that is available. This is not in the spirit of the game and should be penalised. The issue here is that there's so much open to interpretation for the umps, it's inevitably going to lead to inconsistent calls.

[liz]

I don't think Gulden did it last week. Maybe he was told to give it away.

Errol certainly has it in his kit bag but it's something he only pulls out occasionally. He gets a fair few frees for high contact but most are where he is genuinely contesting the ball. As a smaller player, I guess he's always going to cop the occasional high contact.

He did play for - and get - one against the Bulldogs in the previous round. Even through the TV screen you could hear the howls of objection from the fans at the ground, despite the fact the Dogs have had a fair few proponents of this tactic over recent seasons (Weightman now, McLean in past years, even Dunkley from time to time).

He's a smart enough player that he can cut it out and still be a highly effective player. Will have to wait and see what else Ginnivan has in his bag of tricks. Can he still be an effective player?

When I mean should be called a free kick, I mean the rules need to be changed so it discourages players deliberately causing the tackler’s arms to hit your neck/head.

The rules don't need to be changed. They just need to be enforced as written, which is what the AFL has now come out and said will be done from now. How long it lasts, who knows.

[liz]

A lot of players raise their arms if they're going to be tackled to ensure their arms are free. The intention is to take the tackle, commit a defender and still be able to get a handball away. I don't see anything wrong with this approach. Defenders are trying to pin their arms so a player with the ball has every right to try and avoid that.

It's the players who have a premeditated tactic to drop as soon as they're touched that frustrate me. I agree with Nico that certain players look for a free first rather than taking an option with a teammate that is available. This is not in the spirit of the game and should be penalised. The issue here is that there's so much open to interpretation for the umps, it's inevitably going to lead to inconsistent calls.

I think that's why you can argue that evasive action shouldn't be deemed prior opportunity in its own right. However, if a player has raised his arms to keep them free, he should be able to then immediately attempt to dispose of the ball, and it should be HTB if he doesn't do so. That's one way of distinguishing between those genuinely trying to evade or break from a tackle and those trying merely to draw a free. And the one arm up technique to push the tackle to the neck usually doesn't leave the player in a position to get a handball off because it takes the propelling hand out of action.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

I think it’s a long overdue call by the AFL . Someone is going to get seriously injured with the current practice. Gulden does it as well as anyone and I cringe every time he does it .

The way Ginnivan’s arm goes straight up in the air when he is tackled to make the defender’s arm slide up to his neck/head should be called as a staging free kick, as it isn’t a natural action to shrug a tackler in a way that results in your arm pointing that way.
When I mean should be called a free kick, I mean the rules need to be changed so it discourages players deliberately causing the tackler’s arms to hit your neck/head.

It's a blight on the game, and if the AFL was serious about post career brain degeneration, then it should act. And act decisively. Adjusting the umpires interpretations yet again will only add further confusion, and intermittant action will stop nothing.
Unlike the umpres who are already overmatched, the MRP would seem ideally placed. They apparently review every game anyway, they should simply attach a tenth of a week suspension to every incidence of the Selwood Slump. Every 10 slumps the Slumper get's suspended for a week.
Such a penalty would have little effect on incidental cases, but it'd be a major disincentive for those that adopt this tactic as a matter of course.

[TheBloods]

Everyone , Chad is 4th in the afl for goal assists , what a star

Paps 5th too

[707]

Surprise! Which senior coach has come out squealing about the new high tackle interpretation?

Well of course it's the coach of the worst team of stagers. They've been perfecting this type of cheating since 2016.

[Maltopia]

A lot of players raise their arms if they're going to be tackled to ensure their arms are free. The intention is to take the tackle, commit a defender and still be able to get a handball away. I don't see anything wrong with this approach. Defenders are trying to pin their arms so a player with the ball has every right to try and avoid that.

It's the players who have a premeditated tactic to drop as soon as they're touched that frustrate me. I agree with Nico that certain players look for a free first rather than taking an option with a teammate that is available. This is not in the spirit of the game and should be penalised. The issue here is that there's so much open to interpretation for the umps, it's inevitably going to lead to inconsistent calls.

I am not protesting trying to break a tackle and trying to free the arm to handball.

I am protesting the raising the arm to point straight up in the air which has the only and intended effect of causing the tackler’s hand/arm to collect you in the neck/head.

Look at the replay last wknd where Ginnivan is tackled in the front left pocket. His arm ended up pointing straight up in the air like he was a kid in a classroom as he dived or was brought down.

There was no attempt to hand ball or to break free of the tackler to run further.