Ball carriers urged to protect selves

Ball carriers urged to protect selves

Essendon coach Brad Scott says ball carriers ought to have a better accountability for their very own security because the AFL grapples with how one can shield gamers’ heads.

As the Bombers put together for Anzac Day with out Zach Merrett after the captain was banned for one week for a harmful deal with, Scott says his gamers usually are not confused by how one can meet the stricter new MRO interpretation however are having hassle executing on the sphere.

“No there’s not confusion, and the AFL sent out absolute clarity again last night in terms of clarifying what constitutes a dangerous tackle and all the factors that go into that,” Scott mentioned.

“But there’s a very big difference between understanding what is acceptable and what’s not, and executing that.

“So I really feel for players who are trying to be aggressive in a tackle, but yet showing duty of care all at the same time.”

The Bombers coach mentioned “some onus” must be positioned on the participant with the ball to assist keep away from extra head accidents from unintended harmful tackles.

“I think the players are clear (on the requirements), but they’re not clear on how to exactly execute that,” he mentioned.

“That’s going to be I think an ongoing discussion for the whole industry to address, because we all agree that we don’t want to see players get hurt, but we’ve also I think got to put some onus on the ball carrier that they’ve got a responsibility also to protect themselves.

“But I feel for them, because if you’ve got one arm pinned, and you’ve got the ball in the other hand, if you get tackled your only option to protect yourself is to drop the ball and brace your fall, so the challenge for players is they either risk concussion if they don’t drop the ball but they get pinged holding the ball if they do drop it … the execution is more difficult than the understanding of the rule.”

Scott mentioned different sports activities together with American soccer had been already contending with how one can make the ball service extra accountable for their very own security.

“I think everyone’s got a responsibility. If you look at world sport all over, in the NFL they wear helmets to protect the head but over time the helmet became an attacking weapon and players led with their head to try and get an advantage,” he mentioned.

“I think the onus is on everyone, not just the tackler.”

Source: www.news.com.au