The "rough" stuff

[Thrawn666]

West Coast supporters are kicking up a stink about the way Port played tonight, but aside from a couple of incidents I cant really see where they stepped outside of the rules.

Firstly Carr should go for his punch to Cousins - probably a week or two there

Primus will be in trouble with his hit on Judd, it was late, but Im not sure if it was really a reportable offense. Free kick yeah, but report? Not sure. All depends really on how he made contact, Jako seemed to be pretty insistent that Primus used his elbow, in which case he should go.

As for the other stuff well Im not sure. I dont see how Burgoyne can go for his tackle on Kerr, I mean it wasnt high, and he fair dinkum slammed the **** out of him. If our of our players layed a tackle like that on an opponent I would be cheering my balls off.

As for the rest of things, I thought Port were just a lot harder at the ball than us, the pressure and tackling they applied never allowed us to break into our running game, with all disposals being poor and hence putting the next guy in line under the pump.

Thank goodness for alcohol and hot barmaids

 

[Sera]

A spear tackle in the NRL is a 3 week suspension. It will be interesting to see how the AFL handle it. They usually like to be shown to be more harsh on things like that. Carr will go for sure, just like in the pre-season vs Fremantle. The thing about the Primus incident that ****ed me off was that he could easily have avoided it but he ran hard after Judd had disposed of the ball to take him out. It was a cheap shot. How often do you see Jacko remonstrate? He never would unless it was obviously a cheap shot. I also think the Fletcher and Carroll incidents will be looked at for unduly rough play. Kenny_01 said on the main board that the Carroll incident was obviously an accident, well, when has that stopped people being reported before? Someone else said Jones was taken out but I never saw that incident so I can't comment.

Now, it's all well and good to say it was 'only a couple of incidents' but look at the players targeted by the more blatent incidents... Cousins, Kerr, Judd... even when Fletcher was taken out the commentator [who was obviously biased] said the Port player 'took his eye off the ball' and implied he went in to injure the player. These guys are the best players in our team. What a coincidence

 

[Goldenblue]

I thought it was a good hard game, but the tackle on Kerr was a worry. I just wish the Eagles dished it back, but you could see they were intimidated, especially by the body language of our players.

Port played hard football and scared the Eagles, no doubt about it. However Port are just another team and if we matched them for physical presence, the game could have been a lot closer. If we had a Woosha like presence out there, the players would have stood taller.

However, when finals come, Port are not a shoe in. Other teams will match them for physical pressure and I hope if we meet them in the finals as well, we match it next time.

Port are a good hard team and are looking the goods, however, I do tend to agree with other supporters and say Williams is a whinger and a tosser and if we played his boys the same way they played us last night, he would have had a sook about it and cried to the media.

I have respect for the players, but not their moaning coach. Well done to Port and if we dont take the flag, I hope they do or Sydney as I like another interstater to win it again.

 

[autologic]

Yes the tackle wasnt high but it was very dangerous.

Kerr landed on his head/neck which could of caused serious injury and is probably what would be mostly considered by the tribunal.

 

[Au_Blue#24]

The spear tackle must be dealt with by means of its consequences. No doubt it will be looked at and this incident should be used as a precedent. Clearly it was intentional, and clearly could have broken kerr's neck. Im all for physicality - but not when the outcome is as dangerous as that.

The afl should send burgoyne for 2 - 3 weeks as a clear indication that the spear tackle is not part of our game.

 

[Frodo]

Although we lacked intensity and had a number of players down on form there is no doubt that Port went out to inflict physical damage and weaken our run in to the finals. I can undestand the logic that we are a threat to a coveted top two positions and we are yet to see what long term damage has been done. Certainly Jones and Carroll should be out for the mandatory 1 week following concussion, Gardy at least 2, Fletcher may get up but will be below par, same with Cuz.
In addition to the Primus and Carr suspensions the incident with Kerr MUST be looked at because it is life threatening. Poultons late charge on Fletcher who was on the ground should warrant a few weeks. The attacks on Jones and Carrolls headsseemed premeditated and should be investigated.

Mind you, Port showed the difference between men and boys and deserved it.

Milli and Chick will return next week. I'd like to see Chambers given a run and also Lynch is ingood form and deserves a go. Morrisson only played half a game so will probably stay in WAFL.

 

[Sera]

They did their damage and if that was their aim then they should be proud. I'll be amazed if we beat Hawthorn this week because we will have a huge number of ins and outs. Port has made sure both sides will have a loss this week.

 

[Frodo]

Originally posted by Sera
They did their damage and if that was their aim then they should be proud. I'll be amazed if we beat Hawthorn this week because we will have a huge number of ins and outs. Port has made sure both sides will have a loss this week.

Fortunately Hawthorn suffered key injuries, and we have players coming back and others hitting good WAFL form. I have no problem in seeing Milli, Chick, Chambers, Collica, Staker, Selwood, Seaby and maybe Morrisson come into the side.

 

[Voice of Reason]

My view is that it was a combination of legitimate force and illegal thuggery. It was clear from very early that our prime movers were going to be targetted and that's fair enough. The result was a fair indication of the game and I'm not making excuses about it. We weren't good enough on the night and there it is.

In terms of the incidents, I thought the Cornes' knee to Carroll's head was an accident. Perhaps it wasn't, but hard to prove and I didn't think it was reportable.

The Carr thing on Cousins didn't have a lot in it, doubtful whether there was adequate force to constitute striking, and I would say a free kick was sufficient penalty. Knowing the tribunal, he may get 1 or 2 games, but I don't think he should.

Gardiner's injury is one of those things that happen in ruck contests.

I didn't see the incident that led to Jones' concussion so cannot comment.

The Primus hit on Judd was so late that I couldn't see a proper replay of it. Judging by the umpire reporting him and Jako's re-enactment, he should be suspended for 2 or 3 games for striking.

The player (Poulton?) who went in with his knees to Fletcher's back/kidney area should be suspended for at least 2 weeks. The umpires need to be a lot stronger with this type of incident. Incidentally, I believe that Godfrey of Melbourne should have been reported for charging into Crawford's back too. Both had no eyes for the football and were just trying to injure the player.

We don't see the spear tackle in AFL very often - thank God. The "tackle", if you can call it that, is a disgrace and the player who did that to Kerr (a Burgoyne?) should go for 2 or 3 weeks.

There were a couple of other head-high shots on our better players (I think Wirrpunda copped one), which is ironic after Mark Williams' comments about the Bulldogs last week.

Overall - my assessment - the better team won and 3 Port players should be suspended for the next 2-3 weeks.

 

[The Passenger]

there were a few incidents which will be looked at from tha game, but in the end, they were just playing harder football.

We should given every bit of it back.

 

[jod23]

It was a tough contest but the only incident IMO that should be looked at were the Primus late charge on Judd and Fletcher incident when Poulton I think had no eyes for the footy.

The Cousins incident was a free kick more than a reportable offence. Carroll's concussion was an accident and I dont recall the Jones incident.

But then we have the Kerr tackle which was a disgrace. He should go for 3 or so weeks to send a message to the AFL that the spear tackle is NOT a part of our game. It was very dangerous and we were lucky that Kerr just bounced back up. But it could have been very different and that is not needed in our game and Burgoyne should be made an example of.

All in all they were harder than we were and we missed Chick in that category. But they did overstep the line on a few occasions and they should be reprimanded.