Anger over Port Adelaide beast’s divisive act against St Kilda
Jason Horne-Francis was near unstoppable at times against St Kilda, but the footy world is talking about something very different.
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Jason Horne-Francis was the best player on ground in a beaten side on Sunday, but the footy world is talking about something else surrounding the Port Adelaide weapon.
Horne-Francis has been accused of taking an overt dive in the third quarter against the Saints when his club were fighting to stay in the contest at the Adelaide Oval.
St Kilda showed promising signs as they went on to win the contest 13.11 (89) to 10.12 (72) — ending a run of six consecutive losses to the Power.
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Horne-Francis has now raised eyebrows with what appeared to be a textbook case of players leading with the head and lowering their shoulders to force opposition players to tackle them high.
The AFL has on numerous occasions attempted to crack down on the act of players ducking into tackles, but it is as bad as it has ever been.
The free kick awarded to Horne-Francis on Sunday is case in point after St Kilda’s Angus Hastie’s tackle collected the former No. 1 draft pick across the chin.
However, replays showed Horne-Francis appeared to whip his head back before the St Kilda defender had even made contact with his body.
Adelaide Crows great Bernie Vince was among those to spot the incident.
“He dropped to his knees there Horne-Francis,” Vince said when calling the game live on Triple M.
“Did he throw his head up before he got tackled?”
You can watch the incident in the video player above.
Footy fans were much harsher.
“He’s a genuine flopper Horne Francis,” one X user posted.
One fan wrote: “Can’t believe the umpire fell for that Horne-Francis flop”.
Another posted: “The free kick was there to JHF, but if I’m his coach, I’m advising him not to throw his head back before he gets tackled”.
One St Kilda fan wrote: “That duck from JHF was a disgrace. Even worse, the ump fell for it”.
Horne-Francis and his teammates have bigger concerns after they stumbled to a third defeat from four games this season.
The Power closed to within five points early in the fourth quarter thanks to goals from Ollie Lord and Mitch Georgiades.
But Jack Sinclair brilliantly scooped up a pass from Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera and slammed through a goal running inside 50 and Lance Collard converted a set shot to help the surging Saints make it three wins in a row and condemn Ken Hinkley’s side to a 1-3 start to the season.
Adelaide Oval is historically an unhappy hunting ground for the Saints, who had a 3-16 record at the ground and were coming off a five-game losing run at their hoodoo venue.
The win was St Kilda’s third consecutive win after starting the year with a 63-point belting at the hands of Adelaide at Adelaide Oval.
The Saints will set up camp in Adelaide for the week leading up their Gather Round clash with GWS at Norwood Oval on Sunday.
Originally published as Anger over Port Adelaide beast’s divisive act against St Kilda
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