The tribunal hearing into Brayden Maynard’s role in the concussion of Angus Brayshaw will test the AFL on the ‘duty of care’ it owes to its playersBrayden Maynard’s airborne smother attempt in the qualifying final saw Angus Brayshaw carted off with concussion, drew the usual battlelines and exposed footy’s many fault lines. His tribunal hearing will test our tribal loyalties, our governing body, our football media, our former champions, our understanding of the laws of the game, and our definitions of ‘football acts’ and ‘duty of care’.It’s a test case for the AFL and its new General Manager of Football Laura Kane. For so long, the AFL has met these issues just short of halfway – they’ve done the sums,...
The Blues’ 11.8 (74) to 9.14 (68) elimination final win at the MCG helped expunge memories of the past decade Friday was 10 years to the day since Carlton last won a final. September 8, 2013 was one of those footy days that sticks in your marrow. On a perfect spring afternoon, in front of the loudest, most engaged crowd, Carlton ran all over the top of an emerging but rickety Richmond. I’ve never seen a more desolate supporter base than the yellow and blacks that afternoon.The Blues had been parachuted into the finals because of the Essendon scandal. But they had Chris Judd. The most even-tempered of footballers, he had been angered, of all things, by Richmond’s drum ensemble,...
Speedy Pies win 9.6 (60) to 7.11 (53) over Demons Coaches agree to disagree over Brayshaw collision The Collingwood players ran out for their qualifying final the way they always do – gambolling about and whooping it up. But the frolics didn’t last long. It was a brutal opening. It saw spotfires, hyperextended knees, errant elbows, concussion tests and a bloodcurdling collision between Brayden Maynard and Angus Brayshaw. “It’s a footy act,” Maynard later said. “He jumped off the ground and knocked a guy out,” Melbourne coach, Simon Goodwin, countered. “It didn’t look like it had much malice,” his opposite number, Craig McRae, offered. Like all things tribunals and finals, we throw our hands in the air, hope the player’s...
The social connection that comes from AFL fandom can help demonstrate the value of sport beyond participationCome the third Sunday of winter, Carlton had won a mere four games. Having missed finals the previous year by a single kick deep in the shade of time-on, the Blues were additional proof of history repeating itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.The previous Sunday, Carlton were the footballing equivalent of chewing black rubber in a listless six-goal loss against arch rivals Essendon. The only time the Blues struck sparks that dark night was as they scraped against pre-season expectations. Continue reading...
Not a total upheaval of the status quo, but enough of a shake-up to remind people women are here to stay, on and off the fieldSport has long been a masculine domain. Even when women began to make inroads – as things slowly improved on the field and media coverage crept into the back pages of newspapers – men still held the positions of power.The announcement this week that Laura Kane has been appointed the AFL’s executive general manager of football is a sign of the changing times. It is not a complete upheaval of the status quo, but it is enough of a disturbance to cause a ripple and remind people that women in sport are here to stay,...