‘Bad look for the game’: Easy to miss AFL act must be eradicated

A two-time premiership player has called on the AFL to take immediate action after another player fell victim to an ugly act.

The first step in solving any problem is recognising there is one. It’s time for the AFL to realise they have a big one on their hands.

On Sunday at ENGIE Stadium the league saw the latest instance of a player being pushed in the back and shoved into a contest - with dire consequences.

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Giants ruckman Kieren Briggs was preparing to launch into a marking contest when the right hand of Collingwood ruckman Darcy Cameron landed on his back.

Cameron’s right arm, fully extended, pushed Briggs forward which sent him off-balance head first into the hip of teammate Sam Taylor.

Watch the ugly incident in the video player above

The result? Briggs remained down on the ground for several minutes before being loaded onto a stretcher and taken to hospital to be looked over.

Thankfully the Giants big man escaped any major injury concerns although he did suffer a concussion. Despite losing their ruckman the Giants proved too strong in a dominant display against Collingwood.

But it’s the act of players being shoved into packs that has become the biggest red flag for the AFL in the early stages of 2025.

Briggs becomes the fifth player in only a matter of weeks to fall victim to the act with two-time premiership player David King calling on the AFL to take action.

Darcy Cameron pushes Keiren Briggs in the back

“This is exactly what we are talking about … it doesn’t need to be the biggest of shoves. But the trauma it’s caused Kieren Briggs … is severe,” King said on Fox Footy’s First Crack.

“This you have to stamp out.

“We are trying to stamp concussions out – people will say this doesn’t happen very often. It’s happening a lot.

“The game has gone to a new level in terms of the speed; they are big frames, big bodies … we need to find any angle that we can take easily out of the game. This is one small rule change and it’s gone.”

The easy to miss act has so far resulted in injuries to Richmond’s Sam Lalor, Brisbane’s Brandon Starcevich, Bulldogs’ Jordan Croft and St Kilda’s Mitch Owens.

Briggs was put in a neck brace and transported to hospital. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

“It’s been horrific – it’s a bad look for our game,” King said.

“They’ve been asleep at the wheel the AFL.

“I don’t care what we start with (penalty wise) because that player will change his behaviour – that’s all we need to do. Fire a warning shot.

“But to sit on your hands and say we don’t have a problem is wrong.”

King said the change is simple, start punishing the pusher and make them liable for any injuries that may come.

“We saw it three weeks ago with (Eagle) Reuben Ginbey,” he said of Lalor’s injury.

“This one to me said, ‘OK, let’s put a rule in place where we take this out of the game’.

“If someone’s injured, you’re in trouble - that’s as shallow as it needs to be. If you want to take the risk – the same as the bump – if you push someone into the pack and they are concussed, you will be heavily sanctioned whether it’s a suspension or a fine that elevates, I don’t care. But you’ve got to take it out of the game.”

Channel 9’s Tom Morris echoed a similar sentiment to King, stating the league has to take action to stamp the act out of the game.

“We’ve seen a couple of incidents across the pre-season, which I think are more substantial than what we saw today,” Morris said on Nine’s Footy Furnace.

“There’s been a couple of those but it needs to fit the framework and there’s a difference between pushing in the back to collect space and take the mark and pushing when you’re out of the contest, like what Ginbey did.”

Essendon legend James Hird however wasn’t buying into the fact the act needed to fall under the scope of the match review panel.

“That’s a free kick. And that’s all it is?” Hird said.

The Giants will be back in action on Sunday when they travel to the MCG to take on Melbourne, a contest where they’ll be without Briggs.

Originally published as ‘Bad look for the game’: Easy to miss AFL act must be eradicated