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?
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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