Lindsay Thomas sparks fan fury over high contact free kicks

WATCH: DERMOTT Brereton has named a group of players he has accused of milking free kicks for head-high contact, but the AFL is unlikely to make drastic changes.

Lindsay Thomas celebrates after converting his free kick.

DERMOTT Brereton has named a group of AFL players he has accused of deliberately milking free kicks for exaggerated head-high contact, but his plea to the league to change the interpretation is unlikely to be granted.

The contentious head-high contact rule was back in the spotlight after Friday night’s clash between North Melbourne and Sydney because of two free kicks to Kangaroos forward Lindsay Thomas and one to Swan George Hewett.

“This is a blight on the game and I would call on the league’s rule makers to cut this crap out,” Brereton said. “I hate it.”

After the match North Melbourne coach Brad Scott said the focus on Thomas was unfair and people who named individuals were “cowards”.

The AFL deemed both Thomas decisions correct, and baulked at changes to the rule for next season.

Lindsay Thomas is caught high by Heath Grundy.

Brereton said Thomas’ action in the second free kick was “not in the spirit of the game”.

“Lindsay was in a pack, surrounded by two other bodies, and he had an exit passage straight ahead of him — put the runners on, sprint out that passage and you snap away,” Brereton said on SEN.

“For the first time we broke new ground in this. He thought, ‘No, I am going to seek out the tackler’. He actually went into reverse, got lower in reverse, and drove up into the tackle from behind under the armpit.

“He actually thought, ‘Where is the tackler? I want the tackler, because I can milk a free out of this’. That is not the spirit of our game.”

Brereton extended his aim to a host of other players he said were guilty of milking free kicks, including respective captains Joel Selwood (Geelong) and Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood), as well as Paul Puopolo (Hawthorn), Luke Shuey (West Coast), Dylan Grimes (Richmond) and Brisbane second-gamer Rhys Mathieson.

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

Brereton said Selwood was “the champion of it”.

“He has perfected it,” he said. “He is brilliant at it. He doesn’t like me for what I have said about it, but that’s fine, I can wear that.

“He sags at the knees, he lowers his height, rather than ducking — the tackle is aimed up between the breast and hip. By lowering his height at the last second, that tackles goes above the breast and all he has to do with that power he has in his arms (is) slide that tackle up over his shoulder and he gets a free kick.

“Lindsay does it, Pendlebury does it, Grimes does it, Puopolo does it. West Coast are very, very good at it. (Luke) Shuey does it — he is a genius at it. There is a kid called Mathieson at Brisbane — he got (five) free kicks (last week) for lowering his height and ducking into the tackle.

“In fact, a coach from Brisbane said, smirkingly before the game, ‘You watch how many head-high tackles this kid gets. That’s his go-to action when he comes in’.”

North Melbourne captain Andrew Swallow yesterday insisted Thomas did nothing different from many players at other clubs.

“Lindsay plays within the rules,” he said.

“Maybe it isn’t the best look, but I don’t think we should be pointing the finger at one individual. Everyone is getting upset at Lindsay but there’s one at every team at least.”

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

The coaches from Friday night’s game — North Melbourne’s Brad Scott and Sydney’s John Longmire — both called on the AFL to put the head-high rule under the microscope at the end of the season, but Scott said the focus on Thomas was totally unfair.

“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.”

Longmire said there was no doubt the rule “needed to be looked at”.

“I’m not sure what will come out of it,” he said on SEN.

“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.

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

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

But AFL football operations manager Mark Evans said the league would not make any drastic changes, despite successfully eradicating free kicks paid to players who drive their heads into opposition players to draw high contact.

Evans said a change would see the duty of care of the tackler decrease, and that was something he was 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 (rather) than to have broken jaws or concussions that you don’t like.”

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

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.”

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.”

North Melbourne great Wayne Carey also 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 7.

“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.”