Everyone is going to hate this post. That's OK. Well, it's not OK 'cos I don't really want to be on an island here but...

In my post Giants loss thread about 'who are we upset with' there was a well made point by a poster (I'm intentionally not quoting them) that the way the AFL conducted themselves (ie. not suspending Greene) is the sort of action that would discourage him/her from allowing their kids from playing footy when they reach that age.

I have been thinking (a lot) about that statement and I know it is one that would be shared by most of the other parents with kids in my now 12yo's team...and I could say the same about my 17yo.

The problem is though that footy at junior level has become so NICE that whenever something does go awry, it is so unexpected that everyone completely loses their mind. Everyone wants to be 'mates' with the team managers of rival sides laughing and joking before games and offering support to one another...right up until the moment when 'something' happens which triggers everyone to run to the Match Day Official (another parent on a roster) screaming blue murder and demanding the immediate intervention of a higher power....I have seen more sideline angst at the junior footy this year than ever before - most of it caused by pretty trivial events. A bit of push and shove amongst 12-year olds (let alone 17 year olds) seems enough to send the sidelines into a frenzy of fury and screaming and all sorts...

Footy is a combative game played by people who WANT to engage in a physical sport. The line is going to be crossed. It just is. But at junior level, that 'line' is being pulled back further and further each year...once upon a time, a high tackle was a high tackle - and resulted in a free kick. Now a high tackle is deemed worthy of a red card by what seems like 90% of the people watching the game...Not only that, there is a huge emphasis on artificial sportsmanship (players from both team engage in a group hugging/cheering session after the game) and little emphasis given to the 'genuine' sportsmanship (returning the ball to the umpire, helping an opponent to his feet, etc) that was once part of the game. It seems we want boxes ticked and we want everyone to keep up appearances...but the stuff that is genuine is never spoken about/celebrated. And because of this, rather than a player being crunched in a hard tackle then helped to his feet by the tackler, what happens is he is still crunched in the tackle but - because there is no emphasis on the 'physical' nature of the game - when he jumps up he wants to push and shove the tackler with Mum and Dad (and often the coach) screaming at the field demanding a 'dangerous tackle' free kick be awarded.

Where am I going with this? I actually don't know. But what I do know is we need to be teaching our kids to play what is a physical sport in a physical way. And we need to go back to celebrating the physical elements of the game from a young age - it is not often there is a 'genuinely serious' injury caused by physical contact (the two hospital trips for my two this year have both been from basketball) and even less often that there is an injury caused by an action outside the laws of the game (such as striking etc).