Lindsay Thomas sparks fan fury over high contact free kicks

FANS and former players have attacked North Melbourne forward Lindsay Thomas over his repeated attempts to bend the rules.

Lindsay Thomas celebrates after converting his free kick.

THE AFL won’t make any adjustments to the adjudication of high free kicks despite the furore surrounding players intentionally ‘milking’ free kicks, which AFL Hall of Fame member Dermott Brereton called “a blight on the game.”

Controversy was sparked on Friday night night when two free kicks were awarded to Kangaroos forward Lindsay Thomas in the first half, as well as another to Swan George Hewett.

Brereton called the second infringement to Thomas “the most disgraceful free kick I have seen in years”.

In the aftermath of the game, North Melbourne coach Brad Scott and Sydney Swans counterpart John Longmire called for the league to act.

But Scott did defend Thomas, saying he was not alone in trying to take advantage.

“There’ll be cowards out there that single out individuals, but every player in the competition tries to do it,” Scott said on Friday night. “So until the rules change, the players will keep doing it.

“While they continue to get paid, then players will keep doing it.

“They make the decision to do it, but again they’re being incentivised because the free kicks are being paid.”

Sydney coach John Longmire said there’s no doubt the rule “needed to be looked at.”

Lindsay Thomas is caught high by Heath Grundy.

“I’m not sure what will come out of it. It’s very difficult for the umpires as it is at the moment because the reality is if you tackle a person high it’s a free kick, regardless of what they’ve done with their knees or legs,” he told SEN on Saturday morning.

“It’s not an easy one, this one but I’m sure it will be looked at.”

Longmire said he and his team of coaches have addressed the issue with players, saying to ensure their tackling technique is the best it can be to combat the tactic.

But the premiership coach conceded it’s hard for players to adjust in the high-pressure environment of a game.

“We speak to the players about it, those tackling techniques in getting lower and making sure you do that but it’s a very difficult thing to get right at the last second of a pressure environment like they play in,” he said.

“I don’t know if they look at it in the post-match review, the umpires, and maybe that’s the way of dealing with it in the future but for the moment it’s a difficult thing to get right.”

While Longmire insists the drawing of high free kicks is something the league must correct, he says it could be an issue for the post-season rather than making changes on the fly.

“The challenge is, is it bad enough to change it right now or do we wait until the end of the year with a full season of data and weight it up then and don’t panic,” he said.

Lindsay Thomas. Actually initiated contact to draw the high free there. He is an expert

— Jon Ralph (@RalphyHeraldSun) May 27, 2016

Lindsay Thomas needs to be removed from the sport! A blight on the game! #AFLSwansNorth

— Karl Button (@ButtonKarl) May 27, 2016

Lindsay Thomas might be a great fella but I hate the way he goes about his footy

— jamesmagner (@jamesmag23) May 27, 2016

“I’d prefer that at the moment. I think it’s worthwhile putting on everyone’s radar and seeing how it goes.

“It’s very difficult for the umpires to adjudicate at the moment. My preferred option would be to wait until the end of the year.”

But AFL football operations boss Mark Evans says the league won’t be making any drastic changes despite successfully eradicating free kicks paid to players who drive their head into the opposition to draw free kicks.

Evans says a change would see the duty of care of the tackler decrease, something he’s not willing to condone.

“We haven’t found the right way to define what we want here,” Evans told 3AW. “If you want to get rid of some free kicks where you think that player has contributed to the high contact, you still can’t bring in any system that allows an indiscriminent, sloppy, vigorous tackle to the head, you can’t allow that.

“If you’re going to have an error, it’s far better to have errors of a couple of free kicks that you don’t like than to have broken jaws or concussions that you don’t like.

“It’s something we’ve taken to the Laws of the Game Committee again this year to say ‘do you think there is a way through this?’

What’s all the fuss? Lindsay Thomas under fire for the way he draws high free kicks. Picture: Getty

“But I’m certainly not in favour of doing anything that incentivises a tackler to take less responsibility of the tackle.

“This is a really complicated thing because last year we looked at this and we found a way to take away where players clearly drive their head in a bent position, which we thought was really dangerous and where a player ducks significantly into contact umpires can make that call and call play on.

“All of the other types of head contact, we have this balance between what do you want to incentivise for the person with the ball and what do you want to do for the person who’s about to lay the tackle.”

Great look that, looking for a free! Smh

— Maverick Weller (@Maverickweller) May 27, 2016

@AaronSCHQ here's the Thomas duck pic.twitter.com/AMD5k2Z8uA

— General Soreness (@GenSorenessSC) May 27, 2016

That is rubbish #AFLSwansNorth

— Kate Salemme (@KateSalemme) May 27, 2016

North Melbourne skipper Andrew Swallow backed his under fire teammate, declaring he doesn’t know what all the fuss is about or why the finger was being pointed at Thomas.

“I just don’t understand what the big beat up around it is,” he told SEN. “It happens week in, week out.

“Lindsay plays within the rules, whether it’s a good look or not, maybe it isn’t the best look but I don’t think we should be pointing the finger at one individual.

“From my point of view I’m happy with it, I’m fine. All the opinions should be directed at the AFL and the Laws Committee. From a club point of view, that’s where we sit.”

The midfielder said it’s up to the umpires to stop calling free kicks when players have intentionally drawn high contact.

He said if umpires stop awarding free kicks, players won’t search for the contact.

“I think it’s up to the umpires, the umpires have got to call it. If they stopped calling those free kicks I think it will disappear from the game,” Swallow said.

“Players only ever play to the whistle and if they keep calling them well? Everyone is getting upset at Lindsay but there’s one at every team at least.”

AFL legend Leigh Matthews didn’t see an issue with the free kicks paid to Thomas on Friday night, saying the onus remains on the tackler to execute the skill properly and not give away a free kick.

“Both those tackles last night were free kicks,” Matthews said on 3AW.

“They were poor tackles.”

Lindsay Thomas is a disgrace

— Apoplectic Pedro (@pistollle) May 27, 2016

Cannot stand watching Lindsay Thomas flop every time he goes near the footy. Absolutely putrid #growapair

— Byron Juckert (@jucktown) May 27, 2016

Lindsay Thomas. Not exactly unanimously loved. #AFLSwansNorth

— Luke Holmesby (@LukeHolmesby) May 27, 2016

Brereton called upon the AFL to “cut this crap out”, saying the high proportion of head-high free kicks at the moment was a bad look for the game.

“They (players who do it) are wilfully endangering themselves to draw a high tackle ... it is a blight on the game,” Brereton said on Fox Footy.

“The second one I will say (was) the most disgraceful free kick I have seen in years,” he said.

“He (Thomas) is facing the other way. His exit point is the other way (and) he goes into reverse to find this head-high contact.”

But another AFL Hall of Fame member Wayne Carey defended Thomas, saying the tackler was at fault on both occasions and that the Kangaroos forward was paying for past indiscretions.

“Lindsay is playing with the rules; I don’t think he is ducking,” Carey said on Channel Seven. “He is not driving with his head, he is not dropping at the knees.

“He is not doing all those things that stacks of players in the competition are doing. It (the controversy) is just simply because of Lindsay’s earlier play when he was ducking the head, and he gets harshly judged by a lot.

“Lindsay ... is playing within the rules. He is a smart player. I just think it is a massive overreaction. The ones he got paid were deserving, and I think it is up to the tackler to go lower.”

Thomas crossed the line in the eyes of many observers too, drawing a second high contact free kick in front of goal.

The AFL has repeatedly said it is the responsibility of tacklers to stick to the rules and protect players’ heads, unless they actually duck.

Thomas’s regular movement is more of a crouch although fans didn’t see the difference.