Are AFL footballers taking a leaf out of soccer players book with their staging for free kicks?

Question

I was watching todays game between the Hawks & the Kangaroos & had a good chuckle while watching an altercation between Hawks player Jordan Lewis & opponent Daniel Pratt.

Lewis gave Pratt a soft love tap to the stomach & the Roos player dropped to his knees, feigning injury, & grimacing in agony. He even went so far as to do a complete somersault while writhing in agony.

Lewis gave him a serve while he was on the ground & I reckon he was advising him to take up soccer & give footy away. Lewis will probably cop a suspension because of the petty behaviour of this prat (deliberately spelt without a capital letter!).

You'd never see a Brisbane Lions behaving like that - Leigh Matthews would drag him if he saw that occur from one of his players. Plus you'd never see an ARL player perform in such a manner.

What is AFL football turning into? A game for wimps & pansies?

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Answer 1

did you see Fev last night? copped a thump in the tum and fell on his back holding his face?

And the oscar goes to.......

Answer 2

ARL players not faking it??

Watch the Storm vs Broncos and you will see that the Bronco player Michael Ennis having a cry when he was tackled by the arm and then started winking to his teammates because he was faking it to get a penalty.

Answer 3

yeah I hate it. Christiano Ronaldo would get 100 free kicks a game if he played AFL. But don't forget players like Jarrod Hayne, NRL has them as well and it is up to the umpires to pick them out and not fall for it. Remember in the soccer WC when that Italian player took a dive and got the penalty - well it happens all the time in AFL so I thought it was stupid how Australia felt ripped off by it. If NRL went down the path of awarding penalties for good acting then the game would die off.

Answer 4

It's definitely a big problem in the game. I've noticed it becoming more prevalent. Brendan Fevola is a particularly bad example. For such a big touch bloke he finds so many ways to fall down in agony!

I think it comes in several forms, there is the case when no contact is made but arms (or legs) are flying and a player knows that an umpire can't see the situation clearly, so they just throw their head back, fall over and writhe around in pain for the umpire to see.

Another case is when there is light contact, but the player exaggerates its strength. I think this is particularly dangerous because when it is reviewed by the match committee and tribunal, they will see the contact and possibly suspend the player for several matches.

Another related example is when a player is being tackled and they just fall forward over the ball and act like they have been driven into the ground. That is similar because no illegal contact was made, but they try to make the umpire believe that the tackler was behaving recklessly. On Footy Classified the other day, they showed some clips of players actually throwing themselves forward during a tackle and receiving free kicks for it.

I think it's a blight on the game and needs to be stamped out. I don't think you can blame the umpires because they have so much to take in at a very fast pace. But I think if it can be shown on video evidence that a player is faking contact - either to receive a free kick or to imply that a player has struck them, they should receive a penalty. Probably a fine at first, and a suspension if they try it again.  It is serious because they can influence the result of a game and possibly affect somebody else's career if they get suspended over such an incident.

Aside from all that, it's just not a good way to play football. There needs to be some code of honour that you don't fall over every time you receive a tap. It's a tough game, but some players are making it look like it's too tough for them and they need the umpire to look after them. The poor little flowers!

Answer 5

no

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Answer 6

Totally agree. The way they're giving out the free kicks now...

Answer 7

Yes. I think are actually getting worse than soccer players.

Did you see Collingwood's Medhurst in today's match?

Dropped like he was poleaxed & made out he was near on unconscious. He looked a bit stupid when the umpire didn't give a 50 m penalty & said there was nothing in the incident. Slomo replays showed a slight glancing blow to the mouth - not the head where he tried to stage had been hit.

Some AFL players are an embarrassment to watch.

Answer 8

first of all, in defence of pratt it was a pretty hard hit and a deliberate hit in the stomach on any player is ILLEGAL and he should be rubbed out.

second of all, one thing AFL could learn from soccer is too penalise divers like they do in soccer.

Answer 9

AFL football players have been faking injuries for years! it ruins the game.. and makes them look like wimps lol

Answer 10

One of the worse players to do this was the Indian Rubberman - Gavin Wanganeen who played for Ess then Port.

His favorite trick was to throw his head back and rolled several times on the ground as if someone smacked him across the face.

It used to be quiet prevalent in the mid-90's.

Not too bad now actually.

Answer 11

i dont think its that bad yet