A NEW tombstone was erected at the cemetery this week. It carried the following words: RIP. The Bump. A wonderfully masculine and courageous part of Australia's best game. Born: 1897, died August 31, 2009.
After being on life support when Hawthorn full-forward Lance Franklin bumped Richmond's Ben Cousins and received a ridiculous two-week penalty, Matthew Lloyd's bump on Hawk midfielder Brad Sewell last Saturday and his four-week suspension announced on Monday, officially killed off the bump.
The message from the AFL is that players' heads must be protected. Fair enough. So why earlier this season was a head-butt not treated as harshly? The AFL argued at the time the one-game suspension handed to Brisbane's Jared Brennan was less because of his good record.
What a crock. It was either acceptable or unacceptable. Lloyd's bump was ruled unacceptable. What a crock. The ball was close to a running Sewell, Lloyd was running flat out for the ball and a collision was inevitable. It wasn't a king hit. Was it deliberate? Only Lloyd knows. We also know the injuries suffered by Sewell were sickening but how many times does a player run off uninjured after a bump?
The fact the bump is as much a part of the game as an oval-shaped ball doesn't make it right that someone ended up with facial injuries. But the risks are there and well known. What about the bumps in the 1970s a lot of us grew up watching? Heroes were created with just one bump.
What is most disturbing is the message being sent to kids now that the bump is out. Kids are NOT allowed to tackle these days until their age hits double figures. Yet at AusKick they are taught to run flat out and crash a tackle bag to the ground. Instead of tackling in any game, they are told and taught to BUMP.
Confused? What happens when the Judds, Abletts and Riewoldts of tomorrow step up to play competitive footy - they are supposed to tackle. But that's right, they haven't been allowed to tackle. And now they're not allowed to bump either.
Confused? If it is good enough for a seven-year-old to read a book titled Mr Bump then it's good enough for grown men to bump into each other on the footy field. There are more bumps on a nightclub dance floor than on an oval these days and that's just not football.
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