Pickett = Cheat

[Blue Red and Gold]

Did anyone see David Nobles comments on Port last night. I missed it. What was said?

It was something along the lines of "well thats the way Port have always played".

 

[Crowked]

It was something along the lines of "well thats the way Port have always played".

Yeh, thats what I heard too. The media are notorious for plucking out comments and intentionally playing them in the wrong context though.

He didnt look all that impressed either though, so it could have been his response to questioning on the Pickett thing.

 

[CaptainDangerfield]

It was something along the lines of "well thats the way Port have always played".

Thanks mate. I don't see a problem with his comment, sounds spot on.

 

[Jimmy]

He was going for the ball

He is not cheat he just plays hard. some people should watch the way he plays and learn from it

your a ********ing idiot clown!!!!!

 

[CaptainDangerfield]

Check out the thread on Bickley on the Port board, it's hilarious. The guy is a media personality and is paid to make comment. He called the Pickett incident the way other media identities saw it. At least he's honest. Jesus, try sitting through an afternoon of the borish Russell Ebert on 5AA telling everyone how the sanctimonous PAFC are out doing great things in the community. Just how are Peter and Byron enriching the community Russ?

 

[Crowked]

Just how are Peter and Byron enriching the community Russ?

Well Peters created some work for the police, social workers and psychiatrists, and Byron has created work for bricklayers, lawyers, judges and now doctors and physiotherapists.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Well Peters created some work for the police, social workers and psychiatrists, and Byron has created work for bricklayers, lawyers, judges and now doctors and physiotherapists.

 

[arrowman]

Coming in late here, but I saw the incident for the first time on the news last night.

WTF? From the way some PAPs were talking I thought we must have been talking about a side-on approach that was mistimed.

Pickett came at Begley, with the intention of hitting him, from the front. It doesn't matter where the ball was, the impact was intentional, and it was from the front on a player with his head over the ball - in other words, it was never going to be anything other than head high and it was never going to be anything other than dangerous.

He's gone. And good riddance.

 

[DSL64]

yes i agree pickett is a dog......... dirty bastard that has a history of lining guys up instead of going for the ball. And to compare him to bickley is ludicrous. Like the guy has one bad incident, which he copped and accepted. Pickett has always gone for the man, exposing a loop hole, and now its time for him to be nailed. All port fans would agree if he was still a NM player and had lined up one of theirs. And there is a proper way to do it, just look at stiffys bump on kane, thats the fair way to do it

Sorry mate - there is no 'fair' way of doing it...
By it's very definition, if a player shirtfronts another player, he's going for the player - not the ball. It's in the rules hence we say it's fair, but in most (I would say in nearly all) cases, the player who gets hit has little or no time to defend/brace himself for the collision...

 

[CaptainDangerfield]

Well Peters created some work for the police, social workers and psychiatrists, and Byron has created work for bricklayers, lawyers, judges and now doctors and physiotherapists.

 

[portentous]

Well Peters created some work for the police, social workers and psychiatrists, and Byron has created work for bricklayers, lawyers, judges and now doctors and physiotherapists.

Hopefully Choppy will employ a psychologist too.....

 

[Malibu#27]

Yeh, thats what I heard too. The media are notorious for plucking out comments and intentionally playing them in the wrong context though.

So true - perhaps worth remembering next time theres a "Chocko Said ....." type threads.

 

[Crowked]

From the Age

Krummel speaks to defend the shirtfront and Pickett. I wonder how he would feel about it if he were being interviewed from a wheelchair?

http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2005/02/21/1108834730606.html?oneclick=true



Don't ban shirtfront: Krummel
By Lyall Johnson
February 22, 2005


While the Adelaide Football Club was privately angry yesterday over the sickening hit inflicted on its defender James Begley by Port Adelaide's Byron Pickett, former Hawthorn player Brendan Krummel, who found himself on the end of an even worse Pickett shirtfront in 1999, harbours no ill-feeling towards the Power player.

Krummel had his head over the ball at Waverley Park that May Saturday night when Pickett charged into him. The impact broke Krummel's nose and gave him concussion and short-term amnesia.

But no charge was laid: only a free kick awarded for high contact. He missed a week because of the concussion but many believe he was extremely lucky to escape serious injury.

"For then, it was part of footy, ruling-wise. I was in a position to be lined up by what I would say is one of the best blokes at doing it. He certainly knows when to give someone a good hip and shoulder," Krummel said yesterday.

"I've got no ill-feelings to Byron and what he did, it was all part of the game. He never apologised personally, but I heard in a roundabout way that he felt sorry for me, which was nice in a way.

Somewhat surprisingly for a bloke who admits being psychologically unnerved by the hit for months afterwards - even at training being overly aware of who was around him - Krummel does not believe the controversial tackle should be outlawed.

"I think the shirtfront . . . obviously the crowd love to see someone shirtfronted. It's good if you give one out, but it's not good if you are on the receiving end . . . but I'd hate to see it ruled out completely from the spectacle side of things."

The Begley incident in the dying minutes of Sunday night's game at AAMI Stadium brought back memories of the ugly bump delivered by Essendon's Michael Long on then Demon Troy Simmonds in the 2000 grand final, when Simmonds was hit as he had his head over the ball.

Age columnist and former premiership coach Robert Walls is not happy about such shirtfronts, or Pickett's record in delivering them. Walls believes the laws of football need to be modified to restrict shirtfronts to players carrying the ball and feels Pickett has an unhealthy track record of bumping players in borderline situations.

"I thought (the Begley incident) was reckless and potentially very dangerous and (Pickett) should have been reported and should be suspended," Walls said. "The player with his head over the ball, eyes down, can't see him coming . . . it was a bad one and I don't think anyone who likes the game would have been happy with what they saw."

Adelaide was making no comment about the incident yesterday, given that the tribunal was yet to hear the case, and Begley was said to have only a slight neck strain but he should be available to play in next week's practice match against Geelong. Krummel continued playing into 2000 but damage to his right knee caused his career to be cut short on 74 games.

"It is actually funny now having two little girls because one of my mates got a copy of the Biffs and Bumps video and they were quite surprised to see their father on it (and) . . . pretty concerned when they saw the incident," he said.

"I think that's what I'll be remembered for, not the footy talent but the Byron Pickett hit."

 

[arrowman]

Interesting definition of "shirtfront" being used here.

How many people wear their shirts over the top of their head?

 

[Malibu#27]

From the Age
Krummel speaks to defend the shirtfront and Pickett. I wonder how he would feel about it if he were being interviewed from a wheelchair?

I don't know, but his opinion probably counts for a little bit more than us folks sitting on the wrong side of a keyboard.

 

[Wood_Duck]

It is cracking me up watching all of these strange PAF supporters make absolute idiots of themselves on nearly every forum on Big Footy at the moment. Get the feeling it PAF versus The Rest at the moment?

 

[portentous]

It is cracking me up watching all of these strange PAF supporters make absolute idiots of themselves on nearly every forum on Big Footy at the moment. Get the feeling it PAF versus The Rest at the moment?

Well I've even copped it from some fellow Port supporters.......

Ah well, life goes on, thankfully for Begley. Hope he's ok and plays this week guys.

 

[arrowman]

I don't know, but his opinion probably counts for a little bit more than us folks sitting on the wrong side of a keyboard.

You're right. All of us who think that deliberately targeting a player above the shoulders is dangerous to the point of risking paraplegia, are wrong. I bow to Brendan Krummel's superior knowledge of physics and biodynamics.

 

[Crowked]

I don't know, but his opinion probably counts for a little bit more than us folks sitting on the wrong side of a keyboard.

No actually it doesnt. Its just another opinion in a sea of them. He can only speak for himself. Because he was happy to have his life put on the line doesnt mean anyone else is. He is the only football person Ive heard of so far that thinks its not a problem.

If the AFL doesnt cut that sort of attack on a player out of the game its only a matter of time until an interview is done from a wheelchair.

Maybe Pickett should serve his suspension in a wheelchair to get a feel for the potential fate of his next victim. It might wake him up to the dangers, but then again, maybe not.

 

[Macca19]

Maybe some people should look in their own backyard before calling other people morons and idiots. The way some of you are talking you'd think Pickett does this 5 times a game, sneaks up behind people and kinghits them without them knowing. I mean come on.

The real facts are that this was probably only the second time in his playing career that he has laid a bump that could have done some serious injury to the opponent.

I never saw every single game he played at North but whilst being at Port all the other shirtfronts hes made - about 7-8 all up, have been nowhere near the other players head or neck region. And this leads me to another point. "He only ever hits people from behind" which is total crap as well.

Out of those 7-8 bumps hes done in Power colours all but one would have seen him coming - Nathan Brown. All the others he has connected from either directly front on (for example Kirk in the Sydney Final 2003, Godfrey against Melbourne 2003) or from the side (Brown in 2003 or Sanderson last year). He has not clocked anyone in the head like this incident.

All im trying to get at is, just because he went too far this time and laid a very dangerous bump does not mean that every single bump hes ever made has nearly put someone in a wheelchair nor does it mean he does these bumps 10x times as often as he realistically does.

 

[snap-shot]

All im trying to get at is, just because he went too far this time and laid a very dangerous bump does not mean that every single bump hes ever made has nearly put someone in a wheelchair nor does it mean he does these bumps 10x times as often as he realistically does.

Well said. Pickett lays the bump fairly 90% of the time, this time he didn't. And he will cop games for it, i doubt there is anyone that thinks he wont get off, nor wants him to.

Pickett isn't the only one in the game to lay a bump, just like other players that has gone to lay bump catching a player off guard or head over the ball and has caused a bit of damage, he'll be sitting on the side lines for awhile because he deserves to be taught not to do a bump in the front when a player has his head down. 4-6 matches he deserves.

 

[Blue Red and Gold]

I agree with what your saying but the problem I have with him is when is he going to learn?

These incidents are bloody ugly an in 5 years he has done it twice. Twice he has gone after the player instead of the ball.

He doesnt seem to learn at all both on the field and off and its a concern.

 

[Macca19]

I agree with what your saying but the problem I have with him is when is he going to learn?

These incidents are bloody ugly an in 5 years he has done it twice. Twice he has gone after the player instead of the ball.

He doesnt seem to learn at all both on the field and off and its a concern.

But again. 2 bad bumps in 6 1/2 years isnt that bad when you consider Jon Brown has clocked what? 6 different people in the past 12 months despite seemingly countless warnings from the tribunal, warnings from his coach and countless articles thrashing his name in the media.

From Byrons point of view...before this he had only ever injured one person in his AFL career with a shirtfront, which was 6 1/2 years ago and has laid maybe 20 solid fair bumps since then and had never been reported for one of them so why would he stop? If he was in Browns situation where he had been reported and suspended 5 times in a year for these bumps and been told and thrashed numerous times by the tribunal, his coach and the media then I could see your point of "when will he learn" a lot clearer. Realistically, ive seen just as many people injured from Voss shirtfronts than from Picketts. Thinking back to Alan Richardson at the Gabba in about...94ish on the wing where Richardosn was out before he hit the ground and Peverill at Telstra Dome 3 years or so back where Sheedy opened his mouth before the match that he wanted to see the Bombers hurt some bodies.

After finally having a chance to see the replay of it and rewind and watch it about 20 times over, it did look very bad. Trying to think from Byrons point of view, i dont think he intentionally aimed for his head with the idea of trying to take his head off...i think he expected him to move off even at the last second, which is why he went thru with it. Ive thought about it a lot, but if Begley had one grabbed that ball and Pickett went thru and did exactly what he did anyway, he would have collected Begley in the side, which would have knocked the ball free and given Port a shot at sealing the game. I think Byron was expecting Begley to turn his body either because he had the ball or for bracing for the impact but it never happened. Or maybe im just being too leniant on him.

This isnt the first example of a bump like this. There have been quite similar bumps in the past few years. Two that instnatly come to mind is one of the Scott brothers being knocked out from a similar incident i think last year (got bumped from headon with his head down), as well as Roger James being taken out by Mark Bolton in the 2002 Semi Final with an almost carbon copy bump where Bolton lined him up from 10 metres away and thrust his hip directly on top of James head, yet there was hardly any of the hype that there was around this one. Maybe its because it wasnt Byron Pickett doing those bumps.

 

[Blue Red and Gold]

I dont disagree with you RE: Brown, I think this new system is really going to sort him out.

I may be different to other people as I really take exception to bumps like the one we witnessed the other night. It has to be eradicated from our game for the good of our game.

I am not trying to defend anyone else who has laid these bumps when a player has his head over the ball and I think they should all of gone for 5-6 weeks and I am glad the tribunal have appeared to finally of got this right.

However Byron has now laid 2 of these bumps, maybe now that he is going to get punished he will eradicate this from his game so I will change my view and give him the benefit of the doubt as last time he didnt get punished when IMO he should of.

I appreciate what your trying to say in regards to the actual bump but I dont know how a player can avoid hitting someone in the head/neck region when the player has his head over the ball.

That may be all well and true that he expected Begley to move earlier but I dont think this can be used as an excuse because at the end of the day he didnt move.

 

[bringbackbucky]

Get over it people. Byron has done the crime and now he will do the time.

Ruthlessness wins Premierships. Nothing should stand in the way. If there is a head over the ball - knock it clean off. Nobody remembers suspensions - but they sure remember who lifted the cup.