Welcome to the WBFC - Toby McLean

[Ghost Dog]

Sorry Stefoid.
Just can't agree with your point.

They have stopped the leading with the head frees, that were a feature of the play of Daniel Cross.

What McLean has done is develop a technique that makes it very difficult for a tackler to get him legally (that is NOT HIGH) and prevent him disposing of the ball. He will stop getting the frees when someone finds a technique to pin him legally.

If you look at the still images, Dale can put his body at an angle and push his head into the tackler's arm if it's at shoulder height.
They are going to have to go for the hips and allow him to dispose or coral him. But good for him, he has a good evasion technique and it's up to the opposition to do something about it. I'll be annoyed if they change the rules again.

[comrade]

Lets not pretend that he and a few others in the league dont play for head high free kicks. Personally I dont like any player playing for any kind of free kicks.

But OK, I dont particularly care if he tries to 'evade' a tackle by going low - its the free kick I object to. If the umps stopped paying those free kicks, the practice would disappear overnight, because without the possibility of drawing a free, its not an effective way to dispose of the ball.

But if the tackle ends up around his neck, why would the umpire let it go?

And secondly, if you'd rather McLean didn't try to shrug off a tackle that is around his arms, what would you prefer him to do?

[comrade]

If you look at the still images, Dale can put his body at an angle and push his head into the tackler's arm if it's at shoulder height.
They are going to have to go for the hips and allow him to dispose or coral him. But good for him, he has a good evasion technique and it's up to the opposition to do something about it. I'll be annoyed if they change the rules again.

Exactly. The onus is on the tackler to go around the hips if they want to avoid any chance of infringing. Not sure why this isn't obvious.

[F'scary]

Our pinball style of play leaves our opposition forever lunging at us. They get frustrated, the tackle attempts become clumsy. McLean just takes a lot of his possessions in spots where the top flippers are close to the bumpers.

[stefoid]

But if the tackle ends up around his neck, why would the umpire let it go?

And secondly, if you'd rather McLean didn't try to shrug off a tackle that is around his arms, what would you prefer him to do?

1) The umpire should let it go if the player himself initiated the high contact, in the same way as someone who propels themselves into someone elses knees or midriff shouldnt get a free , or someone who throws themselves forward at the first hint of a touch to the back shouldnt get a free.

2) Dont let yourself get pinned around the arms - hold them high, keep your head high so you can see who to get the ball to and get the ball to them, just like most of our other midfielders do regardless of their size. I dont want to hear any guff about Mclean being small and its not his fault wen we have guys like dalhaus and of course daniel who are smaler, go harder and manage to get their disposal away without holding the game up and letting the opposition run to their defensive positions.

Dont really have anything else to say about this. Mclean is a good player, but he would be a better one if he concentrated more on disposal than milking frees

[SonofScray]

There is a video doing the rounds of every free kick he has received this year which is creating plenty of discussion re: ducking. About 75% of them are legitimate frees where he gets nailed around the neck, but I accept he is exceptional drawing high contact. I thought on the weekend the umpires let a few go that they might have otherwise paid previously. Hopefully he doesn't get a reputation for embellishment and start missing out on legitimate frees.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

There is a video doing the rounds of every free kick he has received this year which is creating plenty of discussion re: ducking. About 75% of them are legitimate frees where he gets nailed around the neck, but I accept he is exceptional drawing high contact. I thought on the weekend the umpires let a few go that they might have otherwise paid previously. Hopefully he doesn't get a reputation for embellishment and start missing out on legitimate frees.

i thought on the whole the umps let more high tackle frees go against us than usual, not just Toby's. I think this may have been more to do with Adelaide than anything else. Macrae was tackled and held in a headlock at one point and no free was paid until the melbourne player sat on him which resulted in an in the back free

[KT31]

i thought on the whole the umps let more high tackle frees go against us than usual, not just Toby's. I think this may have been more to do with Adelaide than anything else. Macrae was tackled and held in a headlock at one point and no free was paid until the melbourne player sat on him which resulted in an in the back free

Then the Dee's player got up and remonstrated against giving away the free kick.

[Happy Days]

The "cheating" of McLean (for the record, still think he's a diver, still think it's awesome) is really getting in the way of the wider footballing public (read: not us) discussing everything else he's doing. He gets the ball a lot, uses it very well, and kicks goals.

He's a fantastic footballer who isn't getting the recognition he deserves, because there's nothing idiotic hot taker "analysts" like doing more than not talking about what players do with the ball (see: Rioli, C.)

[bornadog]

[Twodogs]

The "cheating" of McLean (for the record, still think he's a diver, still think it's awesome) is really getting in the way of the wider footballing public (read: not us) discussing everything else he's doing. He gets the ball a lot, uses it very well, and kicks goals.

He's a fantastic footballer who isn't getting the recognition he deserves, because there's nothing idiotic hot taker "analysts" like doing more than not talking about what players do with the ball (see: Rioli, C.)

Isn't it awesome?

He's quite a player. As you say he pretty much excels at all the basic skills of the game, jumping and kicking and slotting sausage rolls.

[hujsh]

He just slants and leans in a way that he could be changing direction or dodging or he could be drawing a free. It's hard to tell

[Mofra]

He's copping a whack to the head and/or neck when he gets them - hard to say he doesn't deserve them if he's going to cop the hit.

[comrade]

Love this video, was hoping someone would make one. I cheered at every one of these...

[Twodogs]

I don't know what the problem is. In nearly every example Madge is trying to evade his opponent's grasp and it's usually a clumsy forearm that's offended. If the tackler had tackled properly at the hips McLean wouldn't be going anywhere. But they have tried to trap the arm as well and that gives him time and space to get his arm and body free of the tackle and the tacklers arm hits McLean around the neck or head.

Tackle him properly and there would be no problem.