Adam Kingsley speaks out about Toby Bedford suspension saga after GWS Giants’ win over Gold Coast
GWS coach Adam Kingsley has taken a lighthearted jab at the tribunal after Toby Bedford played a key role in the club’s victory over Gold Coast following a week of appeal and suspension drama.
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Giants coach Adam Kingsley summed up his club’s emotions, and frustrations, best around the Toby Bedford saga following their 39-point win over Gold Coast.
“He didn’t get himself into trouble this week which is nice,” Kingsley said with his tongue planted firmly in cheek.
“(He) was a bit more of a reasonable player in his tackling, so that was good.”
After a week of Zoom call board hearings and endless headlines featuring his name, Bedford put all that behind him to be one of the Giants’ best against the Suns.
Despite being so heavily scrutinised for the incident involving Richmond’s Tim Taranto, he came out with a point to prove on Saturday and finished with a game-high 14 tackles against Gold Coast.
It was a solid indicator of the maturity of both Bedford and this Giants’ side that they’re prepared to take on adversity and find a way to play their best football each weekend.
However, Bedford admitted that the constant discussions surrounding his technique naturally played on his mind.
“I’m not gonna lie, I was thinking about it at times out there,” Bedford said.
“I think there was one instance where I actually had the hands go up because it was the exact same tackle.
“I really tried. It’s a bit annoying to have it in the back of your head, knowing that I’ve been tackling my whole life. And I’ve never really been in trouble for it before, so it’s on my mind at the moment.
Toby Bedford was involved in this incident with Noah Anderson...
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“I’m not gonna change my game. As players, we know when we’ve done something wrong in a tackle, and I feel like I know that line.
“So, I’m gonna keep tackling how I know to tackle and I know that that’s all right within the game. Yeah, and 14 tackles (tonight), let’s just hope not one of them gets looked at.”
It’s not the first time that Bedford has had to fight through a week of Tribunal hearings before playing on the weekend. In the lead-up to last year’s elimination final against St Kilda, Bedford required an Appeals Board hearing to clear his name to take the ground at the MCG.
And while that experience prepared him for the ins and outs of the week, he found the past seven days even more difficult given the widespread consensus around his tackle on Taranto.
“It felt a bit like that final all over again,” Bedford said. “Just another weird week.
“The last time was a bit 50-50 with people saying yes or no. But this one, everyone was right behind me. And I really felt as if I did nothing wrong at all, there was nothing I could have changed.
“I had a lot of teammates messaging me, and a lot of fans. But I just tried to stay off the phone. I knew there was a lot of talk because every time I saw someone it was the main topic we talked about.
“If it was upheld, I would have been really annoyed and I can’t say some words that I want to say.”
Bedford made the most of his reprieve with an impressive performance tagging Gold Coast’s Noah Anderson. The Suns midfielder finished with 27 disposals but only went at 38 per cent by foot as a result of Bedford’s pressure.
It was another important victory for the Giants as they quietly march their way up the table. And Bedford knows that getting four competition points when they’re still searching for their best form is vital at this time of year.
“If you’re winning, and you’re not playing your best, it’s a really good result,” Bedford said.
“It shows that when you start playing your best you can win by hopefully a bit more than you are winning now. So, we’re finding ways to win even though we’re not playing at our best. Good teams do that.
“Week to week we’ll keep working on what we’re doing wrong. And hopefully, we continue this streak going forward.”
MRO CHRISTIAN CONCEDES: WE’RE ASKING A LOT OF AFL PLAYERS
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Essendon’s Kyle Langford and Adelaide’s Lachlan Murphy are the latest players to call for greater consistency around dangerous tackling assessments as the AFL’s match review officer Michael Christian dismissed suggestions the fabric of the game was at risk.
In a week in which three-week bans for Charlie Cameron and Toby Bedford were thrown out on legal technicalities by the Appeals Board and AFL doubled down its tackling crackdown, players and coaches have expressed their frustrations only six weeks out from the finals.
Murphy said players understood the need to protect the head, but stressed they were “extremely confused” by the current situation.
“I have been impacted first-hand with concussions and obviously with a great mate ‘Seedo’ (Paul Seedsman) having to retire, so I know how serious the concussion stuff is,” Murphy said on ABC radio.
“There’s always a duty of care, but yeah, I don’t think many people know what is actually going on, to be completely honest, especially when it is a chase down tackle out of a stoppage or a non-sling sort of action.
“(With) someone like me who is knee high to a grasshopper … I’ve got no choice but to use my power to get them to ground because if I try to hold them up, they are just too big and too strong for me.
“So there’s a little bit of confusion whether I can take them to ground. It’s a contact sport … if his head accidentally hits the ground, I could be out for a month, so I understand it’s a tough position to be in.
“We’re working on it and doing our best, but it’s no secret that many people are confused.”
The AFL sent a memo to clubs late on Friday with video of legal and illegal tackles but Essendon did not have the chance to show it to their players before the Crows clash.
Langford said: “I think it is pretty clear that if the head hits the ground there is a duty of care.”
“I think it is just something that us players and coaches are going to have to work through with the AFL because we are going to have to change our technique that we have done since we were 10 years old.
“I like the way it is going because it is protecting the player, but I think there is a bit of inconsistency at the moment in the way it is adjudicated.”
Asked if it was possible to change tackling styles in season, Langford said: “I’m not sure. I think it is a little bit confusing at times.”
“You see the instances from last week, they get three weeks, then they get off. We have had a few go against us, like Harry Jones earlier in the year. I think the inconsistency is the hard part but it is not for me to get worried about it too much.”
Christian hit back at suggestions that the AFL’s crackdown on tackles would change the fabric of the game, saying it was essential for the health and safety of the players.
“The fabric of the game is not under threat and so many players are doing the right thing,” Christian said on SEN.
“We need to be strong with these types of incidents to ensure that players and the media and the football public understand that they’re just not acceptable in the game.
“At the risk of repeating myself, we’ve had 18,508 tackles this year and seven suspensions.
“Occasionally it’s wrong. The players have been exceptional in exercising a duty of care to their opposition in the cut and thrust of a tackle.
“I’m not saying it’s easy. I’m not saying we’re not demanding a lot of the players, but for the betterment of the game, for the longevity of the game, for the ability of players and parents to feel like player safety is absolutely premium here, I make no excuses for that. I think that’s where we’ve got to be.”
Originally published as Adam Kingsley speaks out about Toby Bedford suspension saga after GWS Giants’ win over Gold Coast
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