Steven May's mark - What will the AFL do?

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Couple of disclaimers:
Not a whinging Saints fan.
I don't want May suspended.
I have brought this issue up before.

Last night Steven May took a great speccy on Zane Cordy.



Read it well, got the sit, love it.

However...

Zane Cordy was taken to the bench and subsequently failed a concussion test. He missed the rest of the game and will be out next week per AFL protocol around head injuries.

"So what?" I hear you ask.

Well the AFL have made it very clear that they are going to clamp down on any action that they believe was avoidable when it comes to head injuries/concussions.

We have seen the 'bump' change from the old school, Byron Pickett style "take a bloke out" tactic to now being almost non existent.

We are currently in the middle of tackling being given a complete overhaul with players being sighted for pinning arms, double movements, spinning and swinging etc

So, with Steven May's mark in mind; Do we think the AFL will do anything about the speccy? Will the AFL deem May's choice to raise his knee as "reckless" and actually suspend him for taking a hanger?

We could argue all day that it's "part of the game", but the same could have been said about bumping and tackles.

Again, I'll reiterate, I DONT WANT TO SEE THIS BANNED.

My fear though is that the AFL are going down a path that in 3... 5... 10... years' time will end up with what May did will actually being a penalty rather than a highlight.

Anyone else feel the same?
 
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What we know:
PerthBoy86 said:
You can basically do anything, including kneeing someone in the head, as long as you take a mark. Strange quirk of our game.
Click to expand...

Pretty much this. If you don't use your hands/arms, and you take the mark, any contact doesn't matter. The only exception seems to be if you full on front kick an opponant ala Toby Greene
 
interesting to say the least, the Mark has to be paid and no case to answer however what happens if May fails to get a fingertip on the ball, then it becomes unrealistic attempt and causing injury and probably should go to the Chrisso and his chooklotto brigade.
 

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Definitely worthy of a discussion.

With body contact sports there is always the risk of contact to the head, it's impossible to stamp it out of the game, unless of course you make footy completely non-contact. That is the only way to protect the head.
 
At the very least, the onus will need to be placed on the player with the line of sight to not concuss the player in front of him. It is possible the AFL will also need to make all contact with the head in these cases a free kick against as well, whether the opponent is concussed or not.

I realised this was extremely dangerous years ago when I was playing and I accidentally kneed a respected opponent in the back of the head in a marking contest in a useless practice match of all things. Post game I was having a beer with him and could see he looked very ill. I don't think he ever played too much after that, though he was getting towards the end anyway, but it was a fearful blow he took to the back of the head. This one troubled me as for years I had basically legally targetted opponent's heads in marking contests and as soon as I saw the result of this accidental knee to the head I could see the error of my previous ways. It didn't stop me flying for marks, but it did make me try to take a little more care with where I placed me knee in these contests.

The AFL will need to make rules that motivate all players to miss the opponent's head in these circumstances.
 
Saab NLAW said:
Definitely worthy of a discussion.

With body contact sports there is always the risk of contact to the head, it's impossible to stamp it out of the game, unless of course you make footy completely non-contact. That is the only way to protect the head.
Click to expand...
Rugby Union is a contact sport, however they take any head contact very seriously and you can get a red card for tackles with a high degree of danger which directly impact an opponent's head.

If the AFL is serious about protecting the head, and itself from more potential future CTE lawsuits, then eventually they are going to have to address this because it is fairly reckless and dangerous to jump and lead with the knee into someone's head, even if you do take a mark.
 
I can't see the AFL get out of this. It is IMHO very similar to the bump, where a bump is legal, but if you get someone in the head then the bump is illegal. Likewise, flying for a mark can be legal, but if you fly for a mark and get someone in the head it is (will be) illegal.
 
It is very rare to concuss/injure someone whilst taking a speccie. To my knowledge anyway I can’t recall too many. And would you be outlawing the action or the outcome? Steven May had no malicious intent and flew for the mark like many players do each week. AFL will not outlaw this.
 
markm106 said:
It is very rare to concuss/injure someone whilst taking a speccie.
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No it's not.

Ask guys like Matt Maguire, Sean Dempster, the bloke from Brisbane, Sean Smith, John Barnes and so on and so on how they have had their careers and even their lives screwed up because of people constantly jumping into the back of them.

Whiplash, elbows and forearms to the head, and of course knees.

And that's just the Concussion stuff. There's also the kidney and spleen I juries, and puncture lungs that have occurred.

Dipper, Sam Newman, Lonergan and John Gastev literally nearly died on the field from being polaxed from behind in marking contests.

It's by far the most dangerous thing on a footy ground.


But ... it's also a big selling point for the AFL. The 'speccies' and 'high marking' is a drawcard, that I highly doubt the AFL will discard.


So basically, they're completely full of shit.
 
markm106 said:
It is very rare to concuss/injure someone whilst taking a speccie. To my knowledge anyway I can’t recall too many. And would you be outlawing the action or the outcome? Steven May had no malicious intent and flew for the mark like many players do each week. AFL will not outlaw this.
Click to expand...

I think we will end up in a place where the attempt is perfectly legal but if you hit the head it will be a free kick against, instead of a mark paid.

Players will either stop jumping with their knees or they will adjust and go for the back/shoulder blade area instead.

This will be a free kick to Richmond:

1688964093664.jpeg

This is a mark to Daniher:

1688964163089.jpeg
 

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Lavender Bushranger said:
No it's not.

Ask guys like Matt Maguire, Sean Dempster, the bloke from Brisbane, Sean Smith, John Barnes and so on and so on how they have had their careers and even their lives screwed up because of people constantly jumping into the back of them.

Whiplash, elbows and forearms to the head, and of course knees.

And that's just the Concussion stuff. There's also the kidney and spleen I juries, and puncture lungs that have occurred.

Dipper, Sam Newman, Lonergan and John Gastev literally nearly died on the field from being polaxed from behind in marking contests.

It's by far the most dangerous thing on a footy ground.


But ... it's also a big selling point for the AFL. The 'speccies' and 'high marking' is a drawcard, that I highly doubt the AFL will discard.


So basically, they're completely full of s**t.
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Yeah but incidents causing concussions or serious injury are rare right? It’s a contact sport with powerful athletes going full speed.
Why not just make it non contact. Most sportspeople end up with injuries post career from their sporting career.
 
Just wait until we discover a form of CTE (Cardiac Traumatic Events) brought on by repeated hits to the body increasing risk of heart attacks and strokes.
 
Vapor said:
Rugby Union is a contact sport, however they take any head contact very seriously and you can get a red card for tackles with a high degree of danger which directly impact an opponent's head.

If the AFL is serious about protecting the head, and itself from more potential future CTE lawsuits, then eventually they are going to have to address this because it is fairly reckless and dangerous to jump and lead with the knee into someone's head, even if you do take a mark.
Click to expand...

And Rugby still has an issue with concussions.

So, what's your solution? Sounds like you're wanting a ban on high marking, turn the game into basketball with no knees up.
 
L_W_P said:
I think we will end up in a place where the attempt is perfectly legal but if you hit the head it will be a free kick against, instead of a mark paid.

Players will either stop jumping with their knees or they will adjust and go for the back/shoulder blade area instead.

This will be a free kick to Richmond:

View attachment 1734181

This is a mark to Daniher:

View attachment 1734184
Click to expand...

It may not be a mark to Daniher, he may have made contact to the head just prior to that photo. Also, if the Saints player falls to the ground and hits his head then it would 3 weeks suspension to Daniher.

What a depressing thread this is, not because of the views, but because this is where our great game is heading due to litigation. I see that there are also some female players jumping on the bandwagon for a free hand out of cash, fmd.
 
They outlaw anything like you are outlining, and watch thousands walk away from the game and never return.
I will be at the front of the horde with the flag and the bull horn.
 
Saab NLAW said:
So, what's your solution? Sounds like you're wanting a ban on high marking, turn the game into basketball with no knees up.
Click to expand...
I am not saying I want a full ban on high marking, all I am saying is that if the AFL is as serious as they claim to be in relation to CTE and concussions then it is likely that they are going to have to address the speccy at some point.

There is no other non-combat sport in the world where you can legally knee an unaware person at high speed in the back of the head.
 
The May mark doesn't bother me, there's no way to 'protect' Cordy in that situation without fundamentally changing the game.

However - I was unhappy with Battle getting concussed the week before by Allen - not Allen but Xavier O'Neill. In that case although O'Neill is looking at the footy coming in, he makes no attempt to enter the marking contest and is basically just blocking / grappling Battle to hold him in place. The result is Battle releases about a second before the ball comes down and is out of position and Allen cleans him up while marking (and it was a good mark).

If players can be pinged for weeks for executing a tackle that inadvertently leads to concussion, I wouldn't mind seeing suspensions for players deliberately blocking in a contest that leads to concussion.
 

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Steven May's mark - What will the AFL do?

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