Kicking with the wind: On the slide

But Kicking With the Wind is back, just in time for the end of Round 4. And what a round it was!?!?

Bombers flying high, Blues down in the dumps, Eagles on fire, Demons shithouse and the other dozen or so clubs still pretty hard to get a good read on.

Real car crash stuff

It’s an old cliché, but it’s a good one.

There’s nothing like a car crash to turn heads and encourage folks to take a lingering gawp. It seems the same’s true for horrific injuries on the footy field.

Sydney youngster Gary Rohan’s ankle was a tough one to stomach, but there’s something about it that made me want to watch it a few times over.

Ditto for Port Adelaide’s Robbie Gray and the case of the amazing backwards-bending knee against Collingwood on Saturday.

Just like a car wreck, it’s nothing you’d ever want to be involved in, but when it’s someone else doing the suffering there’s no problem taking a second look.

 

Good luck, Gary

It’s not like raging ranga Rohan didn’t already know life could be cruel.

The talented 20-year-old has somehow risen to the top despite being afflicted with bright orange hair, but he’s set to spend this season on the sideline after what looked like a badly broken leg in the opening exchanges against North Melbourne on Sunday.

Rohan had kicked the opener and slid in for a contested ball when he was met by a Kangaroo coming from the opposite direction – also sliding along the slick SCG turf.

Vision appeared to show a clean break just above the ankle, but regardless of the actual injury, he won’t be back for a while.

It will be very interesting to see whether the AFL’s Match Review Panel comes down on the offending Kanga – if only because Swans hero Adam Goodes had missed the match after being rubbed out for sliding into a contest in a very similar manner the week before.**

 

Darcy knows all

AFL rules boffin and rubbish commentator Luke Darcy is at it again, calling for players to commit to a code of conduct that encourages them not to slide into tackles or contested ball situations.

Nice idea, but one that’s quite ludicrous in a day and age where players are conditioned to put everything on the line when required to win the ball.

One of the beautiful aspects of Australian football is that the rock is contested from all angles and at all heights – ground level or otherwise.

Suggesting that sliding for the ball when loose on the turf is unsportsmanlike is plain crazy.

So is this comment from Darcy on AFL.com: "In soccer, if you tackle boots up then you get the whole book thrown at you, and you get suspended for an enormous amount of time.”

An ‘enormous amount of time’…? What, like three matches? That’s the norm for a red card in England’s Premier League.

Keep your powder dry and don’t go chasing column inches, Mr Darcy. It only makes you look reactionary and dumb.

 

Speaking of suspensions…

I haven’t missed the sight of Matthew Scarlett one little bit.

The people who do that sort of thing will have already updated the entry under ‘Sucker Punch’ in Wikipedia following the veteran Geelong defender’s love-tap on Fremantle Docker Hayden Ballentyne’s chin in Round 1.

While it was an A-grade sucker punch, it’s Scarlett who has become the real sucker.

By biting at Ballantyne’s particular brand of antagonism in the manner he did, he not only gave away a goal that has been described as the ‘game-changer’ in the Cats’ loss to Freo, but has missed the past few weeks and we’ve all watched the Cats wobble to a 2-2 record.

 

Angry little man

Funny, isn’t it, that Ballantyne has still been painted as the villain in all of this.

Yeah, he’s probably an annoying little gobshite on the field, but there’s plenty of those in the league… Milne, Didak, Johnson are names that come immediately to mind.

Another is Clarkson.

The Hawks boss is a furious little fella, if ever there was one.

He moaned after Saturday night’s loss to West Coast that the Eagles were guilty of ducking during tackles to gain free kicks.

The stats seem to support Clarkson’s hypothesis – at least insofar as the Eagles do tend to come out on the right side of free-kick counts.

Of course, the simple reason for this may be that they possess at least twice as many Selwoods as any other team in the league – and we all know that Joel, the famous one from Geelong, goes weak at the knees the moment he hears footsteps from behind.

Stay angry, Clarko. It’ be great if you got somewhere with this, but I doubt you will.

 

Who’s fat?

Dane Swan ain’t no Dean Rioli, that’s for sure.

When Rioli checked back in after a summer on the turtle meat some years ago there was widespread mirth in the footy world about his waistline.

Now, though, it’s Swan who’s facing up to criticism of his own playing weight.

Seems rubbish to suggest a bloke with the core strength, wheels and stamina of Swan could be overweight.

Fat blokes don’t go around racking up 30+ on a weekly basis. Hell, if that was the case I’d be in with a chance of making Melbourne’s rookie list for 2013.

 

Slow motion

The controversial introduction of goal line replays to AFL fixtures in 2012 hasn’t turned out to be such a palaver after all.

Most that have been witnessed by KWTW have resulted in the on-field decision being upheld and players appear to be dealing well with any delay.

Dennis Commetti came up with a worthwhile suggestion during commentary of Sunday’s match at the SCG, stating that he believed broadcasting the conversation between umpires to patrons at the ground would be a good move by the AFL.

Too right, Den.

And let’s not stop there. If umpires were able to more clearly communicate their rulings to fans it may result in some lowered blood pressure in the bleachers.

If not at the ground, at least on the telecast, please. Commentators aren’t paid to arbitrate, but it’s a role they are increasingly taking on.

Leave it to the umps to explain themselves and KWTW believes the football world will be a happier place.

 

Code hoppers

Big Izzy managed to bag another few seconds for the highlights reel with a classic lead, chest mark and goal from range against Adelaide in his fourth outing for GWS.

But it’s cross-code trailblazer Karmichael Hunt that deserves the real props this week.

Hunt racked up 21 touches against Brisbane on Saturday night and showed that the form he displayed the week previous against Essendon was no flash in the pan.

His coach seems to be trusting him with more time in and around the ball at present and the bustling AFL rookie is repaying him in spades.

In traffic and with ball on the ground, Hunt is a natural and we shouldn’t really be surprised. He’s been working at close quarters and cleaning up the loose pill for years as a league player.

Go well, Karmichael. Prove the doubters wrong and keep up the tough stuff – more of those classic shirtfronts and you’re set to turn even the most cynical heads.

 

 

** Kangaroos forward Lindsay Thomas can take a seat for a fortnight thanks to the good folks at the MRP. His challenge for the ball has ended Gary Rohan’s season and been labelled negligent rough conduct. Could be we have the 2012 version of the sling tackle right here and now. How wonderful…