New Tricks Forced On Backmen: Malthouse

The Age

Friday March 28, 2008

Andrew Stafford and Thomas Arup

COLLINGWOOD coach Mick Malthouse has weighed into the tunnelling debate, suggesting that the game's defenders were forced to forge new techniques to stop key forwards as a result of rule changes.

Malthouse said that he failed to see anything sinister in Sydney defender Craig Bolton's clashes with gun St Kilda forward Nick Riewoldt last Saturday, which prompted the Saints to bring the issue to the AFL's attention.

"We've just got to be a bit careful here before we accuse people of doing things like that (tunnelling)," Malthouse said.

"What I saw was a back-line player that was highly restricted because of rules. Necessity is the mother of invention and you can't put your hand in their back, you can't tap their arm, you can't tap their head.

"When you play a player like Bolton on Riewoldt, I'm guessing he'd probably be giving a way two or three inches (in height), and three or four inches in reach, so every time he remotely gets near the football and he puts his hand on the back of a player, it's a free kick."

Malthouse said players were constantly exploring different techniques to secure any on-field advantage within the rules of the game.

"Sometimes players - I'm not talking about Bolton I'm talking about players in general - will work on different theories," he said.

"Some will come from the front and push back, and hope that they get a push in the back. Others will have a big run and jump at it.

"We've all adjusted or adapted to the game because of rule changes, the pace of the game, different athletes (and) we learn different things all the time about different techniques.

"Looking at the replays (of Bolton and Riewoldt) I'm still damned if I can see that there's anything untoward there."

St Kilda officials went before an umpires' panel yesterday to seek clarification about three incidents from Saturday night's match against the Swans.

In the incidents Riewoldt's legs are seemingly taken out from underneath him as he leaps for a mark by Sydney defender Bolton.

St Kilda confirmed yesterday that it had met the AFL but did not comment on what was said.

An AFL spokesman said that the league was always happy to meet clubs to hear their concerns about the game.

The spokesman said no course of action would be taken from meeting, reiterating comments made earlier in the week that there were already free kicks in place to handle the practice and that Saturday's umpires had missed one or two free kicks relating to Riewoldt.

The free kick already in place in the AFL refers to ruck contests when one ruckman gets under the leap of another.

Essendon's Matthew Knights believes the AFL should "definitely" hold an inquiry if the tactic starts creeping into the game

Speaking ahead of the Bombers' clash with Geelong on Sunday, Knights said he had never seen tunnelling in AFL but characterised the practice as "dangerous".

"I come from a basketball background and it is a blight on the game in that sport," Knights said.

"It is very dangerous, you get athletic people who can hang on the ring and they've got people tunnelling underneath. It is certainly frowned upon in basketball.

"As a coach I haven't noticed it in AFL until I saw the edits of Nick (Riewoldt) during the week. It is the first time I've seen footage of that type of action".

Richmond coach Terry Wallace said yesterday that he, like Knights, had not noticed the practice in AFL competition before, but if a player complained about it, it was worth looking at.

"You've go to look at anything that's going on in the game and if you think that anything's not where it should be, well that's up to the AFL to look at that circumstance," Wallace said.

Western Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade agreed with Malthouse, saying he did not know under what rule a free kick could be paid against it.

"I've never heard of it. It's a basketball term, I saw Andrew Gaze talking about it. Obviously people who know basketball know of it," Eade said.

"As a defender you can't hit (forwards') arms, you can't touch their backs, (now you have) to adjudicate have they touched them when they're airborne, have they flipped them . . . deliberately?"

Brisbane key forward Jonathan Brown has also defended Bolton's tactics.

"I have played on Craig Bolton a few times and I haven't had any issues with Bolts," he said.

© 2008 The Age

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