General News
14 July, 2023
50-metre penalties dished out every five minutes
By CHRIS EARL UMPIRES are cracking down on dangerous tackles as mid-year injury woes and frustrations hit Loddon Valley football. One weekend senior match saw umpires dish out 17 50-metre penalties and the men in white are being schooled to detect...
By CHRIS EARL
UMPIRES are cracking down on dangerous tackles as mid-year injury woes and frustrations hit Loddon Valley football.
One weekend senior match saw umpires dish out 17 50-metre penalties and the men in white are being schooled to detect cues for bad tackles and prohibited contact.
The umpire blitz comes as a Bridgewater player copped a four-week ban for a tackle on Inglewood’s Gabe Nevins.
The Blues’ rising star was left unconscious in the July 1 clash before recovering off the field. Nevins was one of five key Inglewood players missing from Saturday’s lineup that went down to rapid season improver Mitiamo.
The Bridgewater player was charged after umpires reviewed the match video. He gave the AFL Central Victoria match review officer an early guilty plea last week that reduced the suspension to three weeks.
Mid-season frustrations have seen on-field skirmishes at several Loddon Valley games in the past month and instances of sling tackles.
Bendigo Umpires’ boss Dean Goodridge said umpires from the weekend’s Newbridge-Bridgewater match had also requested to review video footage.
However, according to Good-ridge, the videographer engaged to record the match did not turn up at the Newbridge ground.
Players and spectators at the Newbridge senior game were left confused and bemused when field umpires dished out 50-metre penalties on average every five minutes.
Goodridge wants league coaches to end their ignorance of legal tackling.
He said umpires were looking for cues - excessive body rotation, lifting players off the ground, head or body pinned in a vulnerable position - in blowing the whistle on dangerous tackles and prohibited contact.
“We are spending 75 per cent of our coaching sessions looking at (how to detect) the cues,” he said. “And video vision is helping umpires identify a dangerous tackle as part of our training.”
Loddon Valley, Bendigo and North Central leagues have video footage available for umpires to review and decide whether a player should be reported.
Mid-year blues for clubs have been caused by a combination of injuries, school holidays and player availability.
Top three club Pyramid Hill was without more than half its senior team when the Bulldogs were rocked by ladder leaders Marong on Saturday.
The Bulldogs expect to start regaining injured stars over the next fortnight and have a solid month running into finals.