Jul 09 2008
Leigh Matthews Endorses Ruining the AFL
Brace yourselves, Aussie Rules fans. Brisbane Lions head coach Leigh Matthews is about to make you very angry…
“If you can milk a free kick then I think you do milk a free kick. I’m certainly not going to be a moral arbitrator that you shouldn’t milk free kicks. There’s no rules against trying to milk a free kick provided it doesn’t put you out of the next phase of play.”
Yes, you read that right. Lethal endorses the practice of diving for free kicks.
“Every player that has ever played will try and milk a free kick if he can. That’s normal, I don’t think there is anything unusual about that.
“As a moral issue of trying to milk a free kick I would think every player has tried to exaggerate contact, even if it be high contact and being held when you’re not really being (held), that’s just part of the game.”
Yes, that’s just what footy fans need — their heroes falling to the turf in wild histrionics after almost getting hit. Hey, it worked for Shane Wakelin, right?
Maybe one day, Brisbane Lions practices will look something like this:
Australia, you have a new sporting mission — stop this while you still can. By any means necessary. Thank you.
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We all know that AFL players do it and that the umpires pay them. The umpires always pay the free kick to the best actor and unfortunately it has made the game soft (http://www.kick2kick.net/afl/is-todays-afl-to-soft)
Yeah its been slowly creeping into the game these last few years. I think Jeff Farmer is the worst offender. But given the fast paced nature of footy its rarely advantageous for players to stage. In the case of fowards if you choose to play for a free theres still a good chance the umpire wont blow the whistle and you may lose your chance of running onto the ball to kick a goal in the case of fowards. Im no fan of bringing in a new rule, its just complicated the game even more.
It’s one of the only beefs I have with Aussie Rules.
Every time I see someone take a dive, I think the AFL needs an unsportsmanlike conduct rule similar to NHL Hockey…
they could also do a video review and fine offenders during the week…
Diving in Footy is rare. Its really more to do with players who might say exaggerate a push in the back or pretend to be pushed over when there is a bit of one on one niggle to play for a free or a 50 meter penatly, unlike soccer its not a huge issue.
Hate it with a passion and each year it gets so much worse. It is totally un-Australian, but it is definitely creeping into the culture and psyche of the players. Some are worse than others, but it really suprises me that Wakelin would do this after surviving several haymakers from Alastair Lynch not too many years ago without so much as flinching.
[...] Leigh Matthews doesn’t have a problem with players diving for free kicks…well, the fans don’t necessarily agree with Leigh’s point of view! [...]
I agree whole-heartedly with the writer of this topic.
I’ve got to digress a bit in this post. I’m a Bris Lions fan and he is not taking any responsibility for losing games. IMO when he’s coaching he spends a fair deal of time thinking up post-match quips like that Eeyore analogy. Robert Walls was right. He doesn’t have an anti-choke strategy. It’s because his players aren’t developed to have much grunt.
Pull your finger out Lethal. I know this is a modern, intricate game but it’s not a f***ing chess game. Push your players beyond their comfort zones. Lose yourself in your team’s quest to make the eight. I dare you to not go to a post-match conference as well and cop a fine for it. Right now you are a bad coach.