An AFL great has been left utterly perplexed by the state of tackling in the game, warning the football landscape about the “massive danger” that now looms.
Amid ambiguity about holding-the-ball interpretation and about which tackles are deemed suspendable offences, two-time North Melbourne premiership player David King brought to light the worrying trajectory the league is headed with regards to its ever-changing rules.
He cited a pair of eyebrow-raising tackles from Sunday afternoon’s action, as well as resurfaced an incident from 2022 that he fears will creep back into the game.
Watch every game of every round this Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >
Issue that’ll stop a Carlton flag | 03:15
“We’ve got no idea, at the moment, (about) some of the rules,” King began on Fox Footy’s First Crack on Sunday night.
“The umpiring has been a challenge all year, (but) I’m more specifically talking about a couple of actions in our game. The tackle, the concussion side of it, whether it’s a sling, whether it’s a dump, whether it’s an arms-pinned (or) arms not pinned.
“We’ve got grey area everywhere. The MRO is hit and miss.”
King referenced an incident from Sunday afternoon where GWS tagger Toby Bedford tackled Richmond midfielder Tim Taranto to the ground, leaving the Tigers ball-getter dazed.
Taranto exited the game shortly after, not to return. Bedford’s act wasn’t penalised for being dangerous but has since been touted as a potentially suspendable action.
“I can’t tell you 100 per cent tonight, as we sit here, whether that’s a suspendable offence or not,” King lamented.
“I can’t tell you what (sanction) the MRO will give him. I can’t tell you what the Appeals (Board) will do if (Bedford) does get weeks, and then lose, and then appeal.
“I can’t tell you what a coach thinks about this. In the post-game, it’s a waste of time asking them.
“I can’t tell you what the fans think, because they’ve got no idea either — they’re just frustrated.”
Could Bedford be in MRO trouble? | 00:43
Vision played of Brisbane forward Charlie Cameron slamming West Coast’s Liam Duggan to the ground in a tackle on Sunday night.
“Is that a report? I don’t know,” King said, frustrated.
“The player who’s impacted is going off the field concussed. I feel for the players with this, because no one has any idea. The rules have never been greyer right now, as to what you can and can’t do and what is acceptable.
“We’ve changed so many things. There is pandemonium in the game at the moment, and what it’s doing is it’s stifling our ability to make these changes.
“To absolutely come down on some players who get four-plus weeks, and some get off. Players are living in this grey area.
“At a point now where you go ‘is it worth tackling like that?’ Is it actually worth tackling? And we’re seeing now, and I think this is a massive danger coming into our game — the ‘chicken wing’ tackle.
“And it won’t be long before we’re having to ban this and outlaw this out of our game, because players see the rewards now — just take a hand.”
Eagles lose as West Coast farewell Simmo | 02:28
King referenced an incident from Round 10, 2022, where Fremantle’s Sam Switkowski initiated a ‘chicken wing’ tackle on then-Collingwood forward Jack Ginnivan.
“We’re seeing that in every tackle now,” King claimed.
“That got a two-week suspension. So, two years ago, this is two weeks. And now because of the unintended consequences of the rule changes, this is common practice.
“I reckon I saw 100 ‘chicken wing’ tackles on the weekend, and I hate it. I don’t know what you do about it because we’ve found ourselves here — you make these changes with no idea where you’re going.”
Simmo reflects on ‘amazing run’ with WCE | 01:35
King emphasised how problematic the ‘chicken wing’ could become for the league.
“This is an issue for our game right now, and I don’t know how we eradicate it,” said King, concluding.
“You want to pin one arm, because then they can’t dispose of the ball correctly. So, to chicken-wing is rewarded. We’ve suspended players for two weeks two years ago and now we’re rewarding those same guys with a free kick. It’s ridiculous how this has flipped.
“It’s going to be a huge issue, I’m telling you, Players are going to have shoulder injuries in the back half of the year at the wrong time of the year because of the alterations we’ve made.”