Free kicks resulting from head-high tackles increased in number after last round’s umpiring decisions involving players who turn legal tackles into free kicks by dropping their shoulders or knees, forcing the tackler’s arms to slip up to the neck or head, or players who duck their head and charge directly at an opponent or pack.
Hawthorn’s Cyril Rioli, St Kilda’s Lenny Hayes, along with Geelong’s Joel Selwood and West Coast players Luke Shuey and Selwood’s brothers Adam and Scott, are regularly guilty of dropping their shoulders to draw free kicks.
Players have increasingly looked to take advantage of the head-high interpretation since the AFL amended rules on front-on contact to protect a player who has his head over the ball. AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou has often referred to the head as ‘sacrosanct’, but the technique of slipping down for a free is creating highly dangerous situations for serious neck and back injuries.
The laws of the game committee and the umpires’ director are currently looking into the issue, however the practice where players drop to receive a head high contact free has to stop immediately, before someone ends up a quadriplegic