SOME AFL fans are concerned that the \u2018specky\u2019 could soon be outlawed as the league tries to protect the heads of their playing cohort.<\/p>\n
Those fears come after the AFL made a rule change that would see players banned if they leave the ground to smother and collect a player high.<\/p>\n
If that rule existed in 2023, Collingwood\u2019s Brayden Maynard would have been suspended for his hit on Melbourne\u2019s Angus Brayshaw in last year\u2019s Qualifying Final.<\/p>\n
Brayshaw was medically retired following the incident with the ex-Dee having a long history of concussions.<\/p>\n
While some were worried that players could be banned in 2024 if they hurt an opposition while trying to take a hanger, SEN\u2019s Dwayne Russell said that the rules already account for incidents where players aren\u2019t genuinely attempting a mark.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you’re attempting to win a free ball in a marking contest, you\u2019re allowed to jump in a marking contest to win the ball,\u201d Russell said on SEN Afternoons.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you jump in a contest with no intention to win a ball, then you’re in a lot of trouble.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw Eric Hipwood suspended a couple of years ago for jumping in a marking contest, theoretically to attempt to mark, but he wasn’t actually attempting a mark.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, you can’t jump into a marking contest and theoretically say, \u2018Oh, I actually was going for the mark\u2019, you have to be realistically attempting the mark.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can’t go in with an attempt to stick your knee into somebody.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if you’re 100 per cent focused on winning the ball in a marking contest, you’re allowed to go for the ball with your eyes on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Given that rules already state that players can\u2019t launch at the footy without trying to mark the ball if they hurt an opposition player, Russell said he thinks it\u2019s a \u201cload of garbage\u201d that the specky will become extinct.<\/p>\n
Russell said he can never see huge hangers being outlawed from the game given how integral it is to Aussie rules.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not grey for me at all that one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose people that want to talk about the marking contest, and that they\u2019re going to take the marking contest away, that to me is a load of absolute garbage.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople run that one by the flagpole, but I\u2019m pulling that one down the flagpole.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you are 100 per cent focused on winning the ball in a marking contest with your eyes 100 per cent on the ball in the marking contest, then you are legally allowed to go up and accidentally make contact with someone\u2019s head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don’t think they’ll ever take that out of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SOME AFL fans are concerned that the \u2018specky\u2019 could soon be outlawed as the league tries to protect the heads of their playing cohort. Those fears come after the AFL made a rule change that would see players banned if they leave the ground to smother and collect a player high. If that rule existed […]<\/p>\n