Whether we like it or not, this game and many other sports around the world are changing, parts of the sports are being sacrificed for the increasing duty of care and the health and wellbeing of players today and in the future.
I've been back and forth with my opinion on this current incident. Originally, I thought it was an awesome hard contest. Then I saw how far back Mackay came from and he should've had a duty of care to a blindsided Clark, but it was still an awesome play from both.
Today, I'm not thinking of Clark, I'm not thinking of Mackay, I'm just thinking of the incident. The players involved could've been anyone. I wouldn't be suspending Mackay, up until today that was a footballing accident. What should be done today is drawing a line in the sand. From now onwards you must protect the head. We know the AFL are trying to do that, but they really aren't there yet.
Mackay/future players can run in ballistically to a contest, that's great. But we have to get to a point where this player realises that they have all the information in front of them, the greater field of view and awareness of the situation, and Clark/future victim does not and is a sitting duck about to get blindsided. Mackay can deal with the contest however he likes, but he needs to control his own actions as to not injure a head. From today, the ball is secondary to the head, that's all you need to remember.
The players need to be educated about duty of care regarding the head. Yes, the game will be softer, it's already gone that way over the last 15 years and I prefer watching matches from the 80s or 90s compared to today... but for the long term health of our players, head injuries need to be avoided as much as possible, this is where sport is going. How Mackay should've handled this will be sorted out in time by coaches and players, they always adapt around these things and the constant rule changes pretty quickly.
I heard some nuffy of the radio today saying it was Clark's fault for putting his head in unprotected... FFS!!! There was no one in front of him, he put his head over the ball like most would... too many others in the comp deliberately turn their own head into a crowd to draw a free, that sh*ts me off and shouldn't be paid.
While I'm here... What also needs to be stamped out is paying frees to ducking cheats. Bending over when already in possession of the ball to initiate high contact. Raising an arm when tackled to slip it high, which has been a blight on the game since J.Selwood entered the AFL (if they stopped paying this kind of free kick early days then most people would only think highly of him, but for most people he'll always be stained with that). Dropping lower at the last second just to get a free. Tackling someone and ending up on their back just because the player dived forward. STOP PAYING THEM!!! Know which player initiates the potential free and act accordingly!!! It's a bloody eyesore!!!
Back on topic. Let Mackay off, educate the players on better duty of care... If anyone should be getting a week off it should be Tex, and I love the guy! Wilkie courageously going back only having eyes on the ball. Tex never even glanced at the ball, in fact he never takes his eyes of Wilkie's head! He just makes a bee-line to his target and delivers a couple of forearms to Wilkie's head. As intentional as you will ever see. The AFL said that it wasn't intentional. Have the AFL actually looked up the word "intentional" in the dictionary?? Is the AFL protecting the head or protecting Tex? Zero duty of care. A non-footballing incident that doesn't belong in the game. Here's a graphic representation of the word "intentional":
I've been back and forth with my opinion on this current incident. Originally, I thought it was an awesome hard contest. Then I saw how far back Mackay came from and he should've had a duty of care to a blindsided Clark, but it was still an awesome play from both.
Today, I'm not thinking of Clark, I'm not thinking of Mackay, I'm just thinking of the incident. The players involved could've been anyone. I wouldn't be suspending Mackay, up until today that was a footballing accident. What should be done today is drawing a line in the sand. From now onwards you must protect the head. We know the AFL are trying to do that, but they really aren't there yet.
Mackay/future players can run in ballistically to a contest, that's great. But we have to get to a point where this player realises that they have all the information in front of them, the greater field of view and awareness of the situation, and Clark/future victim does not and is a sitting duck about to get blindsided. Mackay can deal with the contest however he likes, but he needs to control his own actions as to not injure a head. From today, the ball is secondary to the head, that's all you need to remember.
The players need to be educated about duty of care regarding the head. Yes, the game will be softer, it's already gone that way over the last 15 years and I prefer watching matches from the 80s or 90s compared to today... but for the long term health of our players, head injuries need to be avoided as much as possible, this is where sport is going. How Mackay should've handled this will be sorted out in time by coaches and players, they always adapt around these things and the constant rule changes pretty quickly.
I heard some nuffy of the radio today saying it was Clark's fault for putting his head in unprotected... FFS!!! There was no one in front of him, he put his head over the ball like most would... too many others in the comp deliberately turn their own head into a crowd to draw a free, that sh*ts me off and shouldn't be paid.
While I'm here... What also needs to be stamped out is paying frees to ducking cheats. Bending over when already in possession of the ball to initiate high contact. Raising an arm when tackled to slip it high, which has been a blight on the game since J.Selwood entered the AFL (if they stopped paying this kind of free kick early days then most people would only think highly of him, but for most people he'll always be stained with that). Dropping lower at the last second just to get a free. Tackling someone and ending up on their back just because the player dived forward. STOP PAYING THEM!!! Know which player initiates the potential free and act accordingly!!! It's a bloody eyesore!!!
Back on topic. Let Mackay off, educate the players on better duty of care... If anyone should be getting a week off it should be Tex, and I love the guy! Wilkie courageously going back only having eyes on the ball. Tex never even glanced at the ball, in fact he never takes his eyes of Wilkie's head! He just makes a bee-line to his target and delivers a couple of forearms to Wilkie's head. As intentional as you will ever see. The AFL said that it wasn't intentional. Have the AFL actually looked up the word "intentional" in the dictionary?? Is the AFL protecting the head or protecting Tex? Zero duty of care. A non-footballing incident that doesn't belong in the game. Here's a graphic representation of the word "intentional":