The time has come where the AFL tribunal or the match review panel should seriously look as provocation as a legitimate defence in hearings or when assessing potential charges.
I think the league has done that twice this year. The match review panel handled the Barry Hall-Scott Thompson situation well, and I think provocation was probably taken into account with Chris Judd not being cited against Fremantle.
I think it’s something that the AFL should be looking at when assessing the Steven Baker and Steve Johnson cases as well.
In any form of life, if someone provokes you, you have the right to actually defend yourself. On the footy field, if a player decides he’s going to try to knock the hell out of his opponent, surely that other player has a right to defend himself. Take Alastair Lynch on grand final day in 2004 as an example. Surely Port Adelaide’s Darryl Wakelin had the right to meet force with force. I believe that should be allowed and if a player has to face the Tribunal it should be part able to form part of his defence.
Same old, same old
I believe there are four genuine premiership contenders - Geelong, St Kilda, Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs.
Fremantle, as fantastic as they’ve been this year, I just don’t think they’ll be a threat to win it.
As for Hawthorn, well they’re coming but the Hawks may have left their run too late. Their slow start might end up costing them as from here on in they’ll need everything to go their way. While they may be able to do some damage and I think they’re capable of winning a final, I don’t think they’ll win it in 2010.
My gut feel is Geelong is still the side to beat. The Cats have still got some big guns to come back - Ottens, Kelly, Corey, Hawkins and possibly Rooke
Gwilt’s coming out
Players sometimes have a game in their career when they work out that they can be better than just an average player. It’s almost like a turning point where you say: ‘Not only can I play my role for the side but I can also really contribute at a higher level’. I think a lot of players can remember those games in their careers.
Friday night might just have been that match for St Kilda defender James Gwilt. I think it was a real breakout game for him. He’s been doing his role all year but, in a big game like Friday night, he really stood up and took the bull by the horns to be arguably the best man on the ground. I’d expect his career to continue heading upwards from here.
Baaaaaall - yeeeeaaaahh!
Collingwood are a much better side in 2010 than they were 12 months ago, and I think Luke Ball’s introduction is a big reason for that. Ball’s leading the way at Collingwood for clearances and contested possessions, and I reckon he has a much clearer idea of what his role in the side is than what he had at St Kilda.
By him doing what he is, he’s now enabling Pendlebury and Swan and the other Collingwood midfielders to break free and run with the footy more because he’s so hard and so committed in the contest. He’s filling his role perfectly in the side and it’s a really big part of why the Pies are improving, so it’s a fantastic result all round for him and the Magpies.
Saintly run
In its last five weeks, St Kilda has been to Perth twice and also beaten Adelaide, Richmond and, most significantly, Geelong. They’re an incredible side. Nick Riewoldt’s absence has been spoken about a lot, but the way they’ve overcome that shows just how disciplined they are. They’re so committed and they have enormous belief in their ability to win games of football. They should only get better when their skipper does return.
On that, the word is Riewoldt has been training pretty well for a few weeks now. I’d say all he’ll need is three or four games to be cherry ripe for the finals. If you had the luxury - which I believe they do - to give him another three or four weeks of conditioning and training, I’d definitely do that. That would still give him four or five weeks leading into the finals, which puts them in incredible shape for September.
Spare a thought for the umps
We ask so much of our umpires in the AFL. By and large, the umpires do a very, very good job. You only have to watch the soccer World Cup and see the massive blues being made by referees over there.
A lot of people probably think if a free kick had have been paid in the Steven Baker-Steve Johnson clash then a lot of the niggle might have been avoided. I know a lot of commentators and people at the game didn’t even pick it up the incidents between the pair because they were off the ball for a long period of time.
We want free kicks be paid to stop these incidents, yet on the other hand I’m one who gets frustrated when an umpire does come in and pays these technical free kicks.
I think by and large, our guys do a pretty good job in a very tough game.
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The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
