Tunneling ??

[Dal_Santos_Gal]

Happened at least 3 times to our boys today to what I can remember. It appeared to me everytime the Collingwood player could not spoil the ball they trying to get under the legs of our players.

NOT ONE FREE KICK was paid in any of the times that I can remember,
Mind you I was up on the top level of the Great Southern Stand and dealing with the sun so it was hard to see down the other end.

I feel the AFL really needs to look into this, its bloody dangerous, what is it going to take for the AFL to stop teams from doing this, will it take a player to break their neck from having their legs taken from underneath them.

I was so disgusted with them doing it at half time I was talking to a group of Saints supporters outside and everyone was commenting on the same thing.

Just seeing if anyone else noticed this and really something needs to be done before a player ends up in a wheelchair.

[BringBackMadDog]

Yep, Gram, Goddard are two I remember. They didnt push, just rand straight underneath them once they left the ground

[saintsRrising]

Yes occured bigtime.

Pies were very aware of our third man up after last week..and took out our players.

Also happened aroud the Gram.

How it was play on when Gram was taken out I will never know.

[saint1974]

Yes I thought the same,saw Roo tunnelled,as well as BJ and Gram on the tv it said Gram lost his footing no he was tunnelled.
Another thing I noticed them constantly do was hanging on to one arm.
This is why I thought the umpiring was pretty poor today if this had been pulled up early it would have stopped the game and a free given appropriately.

[kalsaint]

Yes I thought the same,saw Roo tunnelled,as well as BJ and Gram on the tv it said Gram lost his footing no he was tunnelled.
Another thing I noticed them constantly do was hanging on to one arm.
This is why I thought the umpiring was pretty poor today if this had been pulled up early it would have stopped the game and a free given appropriately.

Interesting how th whistle is put away for key finals. Commentators seem to like this approach but I think this inconsistency does not help those teams who rely on skills and pace and it unfairly offsets their capability.

This doesnt reflect on today's game so much but during the Brisbane reign I believe it was prevalent and led to a change in recruitment strategy within some teams (notably the Saints and Fremantle).

It took Fremantle up to 5-6 years to recover from this as they opted for speedier players then introduced youth. St. Kilda has since suffered from a lack of true pace with Grant's desire to bulk the team up to make the most the need to meet "final's type footy".

The AFL needs to be careful of the consequences of their meddling with rules and interpretations each season. It leaves a legacy from some teams strategy that makes some clubs struggle for longer periods.

[I Love Peter Kiel]

I have to agree, DSG..we got aboslutely NOTHING from the umpires all day.

[wallbanger]

Completely agree with the tunnelling - was a distinct ploy that was not once picked up by the umps, particularly when they targetted Goddard, who faced it 3 or 4 times.

Disgraceful act that needs to be taken out of the game.

[gringo]

Grabbing the head as the player in front marks?

[Winmar]

The Gram one was absolutely crucial too. It happened at a critical time of the game. I thought the umpiring was rubbish.