AFL: Alastair Clarkson’s rant backfires on Hawthorn

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson did his bit to make footy more attractive but it came at an unexpected cost as his own team felt some pain.

Tackling was in the spotlight on the weekend.

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson urged the umpires to pay more holding-the-ball free kicks after last weekend’s win over North Melbourne but his plea backfired badly on his own team.

Clarkson said he wanted to see tacklers rewarded for their efforts after a four-point victory over the Roos, which he called a “dreadful” spectacle as the state of the game again found itself in the spotlight following an ugly weekend of on-field action.

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The Hawks mentor believed umpires being more diligent in pinging players for not getting rid of the Sherrin would reduce congestion, but his team copped the brunt of the AFL’s intensified focus on the rule.

The league warned clubs last week whistleblowers would be paying more attention to holding-the-ball infringements and Hawthorn learnt that the hard way, being penalised 10 times for not releasing the footy before being tackled in a loss to GWS on Sunday night.

It was the most holding-the-ball free kicks against any team for the round, which saw a dramatic increase in those types of frees across the board.

According to Champion Data statistics reported by AFL.com.au, there were 91 holding-the-ball free kicks in round five, up from an average of 60 in the opening four rounds of 2020.

The previous highest number of holding-the-ball free kicks this season was 68 in round three.

The Giants were only penalised for one holding-the-ball infringement in their 13.5 (83) to 7.7 (49) win over Hawthorn but despite the Sydneysiders’ advantage Clarkson refused to complain, instead suggesting footy fans should wait and see whether the rule being in greater focus delivers a more attractive product down the track.

“There’s been a bit of hype about it throughout the course of the week based on my comments last week so I’m best off not commenting further,” Clarkson said.

“In essence if holding-the-ball is being rewarded a little more for good tackling, I think that’s a good thing for the game and it’ll open up the game.

“I don’t know if that was the case tonight (Sunday). There were more goals scored tonight than there has been in other games, but we’d still like there to be a bit more, particularly if we could be kicking them.

“We’ve got a sample size of a round of footy and I haven’t watched enough of the other games to see if there’s been any change or significant impact at this point in time, but we’ll wait and see over a passage of time what’s transpired in that space.”

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The whistleblowers hurt Hawthorn on Sunday.

Port Adelaide legend Kane Cornes gave the AFL a spray last week for bowing to Clarkson’s demand and warning clubs it would be more strict on holding-the-ball just because one coach had an issue with it.

He described the league’s change in position as “extraordinary” and “a joke”, while journalist Peter Ryan tweeted on Sunday: “I don’t mind a shift in holding the ball interpretation but staggering in era of comp committee that a coach forcefully makes a point post game about a rule and the rate of free kicks markedly increase the next week.”

Speaking on SEN SA on Thursday, Power great Cornes couldn’t believe Clarkson had the power to change the AFL’s approach.

“How can we have a game where all it takes for a rule change is a coach to come out and have a sook midway through the season?” Cornes said.

“This is extraordinary that the AFL has informed clubs that they are changing the interpretation of the rule mid-year on the back of one of the 18 coaches criticising the rule.

“How much power can one coach have over the course, the direction and the interpretation of the game?

“It is extraordinary the power that this man wields over the competition and I can’t believe that the AFL are bowing to this.”

Essendon legend Matthew Lloyd said some Hawthorn players were penalised against GWS even when they didn’t have prior opportunity to get rid of the ball and “they would be quite confused about what they can do”.

“You don’t want players wanting to avoid getting the football and that’s what we could get to if they ramp it up too much,” Lloyd told AFL.com.au’s Access All Areas.