AFL 2020: Commentator Jason Dunstall called out for double standards

AFL commentator Jason Dunstall caught footy fans’ attention with two very different takes on similar incidents in the same game.

Jason Dunstall (right) made some interesting observations earlier this week.

AFL fans have raised their eyebrows at contrasting comments made by commentator Jason Dunstall during Port Adelaide’s win over Western Bulldogs on Monday night.

During the second quarter, Fox Footy’s Dunstall criticised the decision to penalise Marcus Bontempelli for a high tackle, saying Power star Tom Rockliff ducked into contact and the Dogs skipper had no other option.

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“He ducked, he ducked. You can see Marcus Bontempelli is a little disappointed,” Dunstall said. “It’s hard when a player tries to duck underneath a tackle not to make some sort of high contact.

“Is this a high tackle when they duck like that?”

North Melbourne great David King said “you’ve got to pay it, you’ve got to challenge the tackler to be perfect” but Dunstall disagreed.

“If a bloke ducks his head right down like that, how can you be perfect? What hope of you got?” he said.

“I just think he (Rockliff) made it impossible for the tackler not to get him high. He ducked the head and went at him, trying to get underneath him.

“I’m just not sure what we expect a tackler to do in that circumstance.”

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Was Marcus Bontempelli hard done by?

In the fourth quarter, a similar situation arose when Bulldogs backman Bailey Williams won a free kick because of a high tackle from Ollie Wines. But this time, Dunstall suggested the onus was on Wines to get lower.

Fellow commentator Mark Ricciuto said Williams “dropped his shoulder cleverly” and Dunstall agreed, saying it was the tackler’s responsibility to lower his approach.

“They’ve missed a few tackles tonight, Port. Ollie Wines has missed a couple going high,” Dunstall said.

“He (Williams) did (drop his shoulder), but you’ve got to get to get low as the tackler, haven’t you?”

A video clip comparing both tackles, accompanied by Dunstall’s commentary, was posted online by Reddit user Monfries7, which you can check out below.