Chesting and Pushing during play breaks - What do you think?

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the dog's kennel

Premiership Player
Jan 7, 2007
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The Land of Baileys
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Western Bulldogs
I have a special irritation for players who go around pushing, bumping, and chesting other players when those players are just standing around doing nothing. The commentators refer to it as "intimidation". Having had it done to me before in games, I didn't find it intimidating - I found it childish and annoying, and made me much more likely to bury that player in a tackle the first opportunity I got. Watching it on our TV screens each week makes me embarrassed for our code. I imagine NRL supporters watching it (being a Sydneysider myself) and cringe at how faux-tough it is.

Hawthorn do it a lot. And I noticed on the weekend Richmond doing it back to Hawthorn with enthusiasm. Trent Cotchin in particular seems to have discovered a passion for pretty-boy chest puffing. I did enjoy Sam Mitchell's sarcastic amusement about it, but I feel that Sam could guffaw at his own team-mates just as much.

I love watching genuinely tough players do their thing. And to be honest, a lot of the chest puffers are actually legitimately tough players (Hawthorn, Cotchin and Miles are obvious examples). But I just wish they would do the tough stuff without the posing. I don't know what they think it achieves. Are players really so childish and stupid that that kind of lame argy-bargy actually affects their mindset? Give me someone like Jack Viney any day - who doesn't mess around, he just seriously brings the hurt to his opposition in tackles.

Anyway, that's my view. What do you guys think?
 
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Apr 18, 2005
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I have a special irritation for players who go around pushing, bumping, and chesting other players when those players are just standing around doing nothing. The commentators refer to it as "intimidation". Having had it done to me before in games, I didn't find it intimidating - I found it childish and annoying, and made me much more likely to bury that player in a tackle the first opportunity I got. Watching it on our TV screens each week makes me embarrassed for our code. I imagine NRL supporters watching it (being a Sydneysider myself) and cringe at how faux-tough it is.

Hawthorn do it a lot. And I noticed on the weekend Richmond doing it back to Hawthorn with enthusiasm. Trent Cotchin in particular seems to have discovered a passion for pretty-boy chest puffing. I did enjoy Sam Mitchell's sarcastic amusement about it, but I feel that Sam could guffaw at his own team-mates just as much.

I love watching genuinely tough players do their thing. And to be honest, a lot of the chest puffers are actually legitimately tough players (Hawthorn, Cotchin and Miles are obvious examples). But I just wish they would do the tough stuff without the posing. I don't know what they think it achieves. Are players really so childish and stupid that that kind of lame argy-bargy actually affects their mindset? Give me someone like Jack Viney any day - who doesn't mess around, he just seriously brings the hurt to his opposition in tackles.

Anyway, that's my view. What do you guys think?

I don't think it'll ever become a big enough issue to cause too much concern. In my view, it is what it is, some players do it, some don't.
 

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I hate it when blokes do it to Rob Murphy because I love him like a mother or father loves him. I want to jump the fence and smack the perpetrator on the head with an umbrella or a bag of shopping (mostly tins)

It's an odd feature of our sport. I'm a primary school teacher and it's both amusing but disturbing when you find a couple of grade twos out on the yard 'testing' each other by giving each other a shove during a break in play, copying their heroes off the telly.

I'm not so concerned with the pushing and shoving but Gibson from Hawthorn should be reported for the off ball punches to the breadbasket. Unsociable is one thing , unsociable dog campaigner is another.
 
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ashep

Norm Smith Medallist
Jun 15, 2014
5,646
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ALL off the off the ball niggle is idiotic.

Watching a FF and FB give each other a couple of love taps as they head to the goal square before the bounce just because they're supposed to always makes me laugh.
 

basashi

Premiership Player
Jun 18, 2010
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I think it is garbage and makes the game look like a provincial joke.

1 - tell the players to stop it before the start of '16 season
2 - pay a free if it happens
3 - will be consigned to history within the course of one season
 
How else are faux tough guys like Hodge and Lewis supposed to strut their stuff?

By running circles around the opposition

They do this pretty easy against Fremantle and their "MANIC PRESSURE"

Can't we all just get along?

After boo-gate, the media now turns their attention to faux tough guy antics.

They really should be pumping Malthouse up some more, after all they helped Carlton fire him.
 
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TassieSaint

Norm Smith Medallist
Oct 5, 2007
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The thing is though it does work, if not to intimidate players (probably rare at AFL level outside of young skinny kids) then to put them off and/or suck them into retaliating and giving away a free kick. If you want to get rid of this you may as well get rid of sledging. I've got no problem with it.
 
The thing is though it does work, if not to intimidate players (probably rare at AFL level outside of young skinny kids) then to put them off and/or suck them into retaliating and giving away a free kick. If you want to get rid of this you may as well get rid of sledging. I've got no problem with it.

Well sir we now live in a world where you can't hip and shoulder, tackle hard, swear at the opposition or booooooo.

May as well call it softball
 

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40porpoise

Club Legend
Aug 29, 2013
2,088
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No no no. I love a good chest pump and a bit of push and shove. Adds a bit of character to the game. And today it's the closest thing we're gonna get to a fight, and let's be real-who doesn't like a good old fashioned footy fight?
 
Well sir we now live in a world where you can't hip and shoulder, tackle hard, swear at the opposition or booooooo.

May as well call it softball

You can't even knee an unexpecting opponent.

Those bastards!
 
I don't might the pushing and bumping but gutless punches are something else.

At the end of the day, if players don't like the physicality of footy, there is always the choice of mixed netball.
 

Bomberboyokay

Cancelled
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Sep 27, 2014
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The other thing that annoys me is when our player has the ball an opponent grabs him and throws him hard into the ground, it's really not fair I should be allowed to kick the ball in peace lol
Seriously some of you need to follow another sport before you actually kill this one off.
Being tackled with the ball is a little different to pushing and playing handsies while waiting for the ball to be thrown in/thrown up/come down your end of the field.
 
Oct 3, 2007
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Perth
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Being tackled with the ball is a little different to pushing and playing handsies while waiting for the ball to be thrown in/thrown up/come down your end of the field.

It's called byplay, head games. It is what all great people do to try and find weakness in their opponents and others. It is life. You may not like it, you may think it looks silly but it is just mind games. It happens in all walks of life trying to find that little bit where you can come out on top. It is no different to a player pushing and shoving the tagger away, ball is miles away so why is this guy annoying me.
It happens more now because these days you can't do anything about it, you used to be able to take care of this or one of your team mates would.
 

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