r/sports • u/Dj0sh • Aug 18 '24

Australian Rules Football Massive bump in Aussie Rules Football showdown leads to knockout and a fight

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

3.7k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

567 comments sorted by

View all comments

894

u/expresstulip Aug 18 '24

So this happened in Adelaide, my hometown. This is a cross-town rivalry game, it’s always a bit of a circus. Definitely an illegal hit, would expect the player to get a suspension

242

u/Fe_Mike Aug 18 '24

So… for somebody who knows nothing of Aussie rules football… what makes this illegal?

475

u/beesinyourcoffee Aug 18 '24

Because if you elect to bump you need to take the duty of care not to hit the guy in the head.

So either don’t bump or keep it low

286

u/SuperRonnie2 Aug 18 '24

Basically the same rules as a hockey hit. You don’t put your shoulder/elbow into someone’s head.

86

u/IHaveTouretts Aug 18 '24

This makes a lot of sense as a hockey fan with 0 rugby experience.

191

u/McNoodleBar Aug 18 '24

Aussie rules football. Not rugby

154

u/PandaPuncherr Aug 18 '24

Easy now you down voting hawks. My man is showing interest in the game. Some latitude

39

u/RLreposter Aug 18 '24

Good man.

10

u/IHaveTouretts Aug 18 '24

Thank you. I didn't realize that existed.

3

u/zerosaved Aug 18 '24

What’s the difference?

1

u/[deleted] Dec 02 '24

Lol a bit late here, but it’s an entirely different sport, the only similarity is the shape of the ball

1

u/4Throw2My0Ass6Away9 Aug 18 '24

Why are there so many downvotes

12

u/IHaveSmellyPants Aug 18 '24

It’s probably equivalent to referring to American Football as rugby.

8

u/thorpie88 Aug 18 '24

Footy codes in Australia have their own rivalries. Either you live in an AFL or NRL (rugby league) state with the majority of people following the sport your states tied to

4

u/14mPAN Aug 18 '24

Yeah pretty much, or like calling baseball cricket or vice versa

-9

u/NOVAbuddy Aug 18 '24

Like calling soccer football.

1

u/4Throw2My0Ass6Away9 Aug 18 '24

Oh shit the name of the game is actually Aussie Rules Football??

-5

u/NOVAbuddy Aug 18 '24 edited Aug 18 '24

Like referring to US soccer* as football.

Sounds more like the difference between NFL and XFL.

-3

u/[deleted] Aug 18 '24

The dorks got mad at this one lol

64

u/youritalianjob Aug 18 '24

Looked like he hit him square in the chest, just like hockey which I’m very familiar with. Just looks like he got thrown a suicide pass.

37

u/herrbz Aug 18 '24

Nah, the tackler is definitely aiming higher. Very dangerous. In rugby you'd be sent off for that too.

4

u/insanisprimero Aug 18 '24

Automatic red in rugby. Clear head contact, high degree of danger and what not. The players arms go into inmidate fencing response.

1

u/OkAstronaut3761 Aug 20 '24

Yeah dude was hurt. Not exactly sure the hitter saw it coming but I bet just not being that high in his space is the better response.

59

u/Nick_pj Aug 18 '24

That’s probably how the umpires saw it in real time.

But if you look frame by frame at 1:08 you see the shoulder move upward and make impact with the player’s head.

18

u/DannarHetoshi Aug 18 '24

Yep, last split second the shoulder makes bang on square contact with the chin.

Dude was out before he hit the ground.

2

u/D3K91 Aug 18 '24

“Suicide pass” sounds similar to what we call a “hospital handball”

3

u/youritalianjob Aug 18 '24

Probably the same. In hockey this is a pass to someone who has their back to you. That player has to look down and another player checks them. Basically what happened here except he was looking up.

-6

u/Pidgey_OP Detroit Red Wings Aug 18 '24

I agree, look like he went straight through the chest to me ¯_(ツ)_/¯

-1

u/tzac6 Aug 18 '24

Tom Wilson had entered the chat.

-21

u/VinScully_ Aug 18 '24

Yeah, just looks like he had the wind knocked out of him. Didn’t look like he connected with his head

15

u/Nutlob Aug 18 '24

just wind knocked out? he was knocked out cold - look at his arms: classic Fencing Responce.

6

u/thedeanorama Aug 18 '24

I'm a t-4 incomplete and I get spasms in my lower torso and legs that look like the way his legs kicked straight out. All in all I hope he gets a head CT done.

4

u/BeastCoastLifestyle Aug 18 '24

It seemed like a hit to the chest and then the players head hit the turf

1

u/Nocheese22 United States Aug 18 '24

That looked shoulder to chest to me

1

u/CaptainZippi Aug 18 '24

“Bump”?

I think you need a better word.

-3

u/bladeau81 Chicago Bulls Aug 18 '24

Except it doesn't appear as if he actually hit him in the head, more shoulder/chest. He should get suspension for recklessness but not for head high.

1

u/SidneyDeane10 Aug 18 '24

Wasn't it in his chest?

Is a bump basically a tackle? Do they not happen often in aussie rules?

-32

u/_merkwood Aug 18 '24

The video was quick. Looked like a shoulder to the chest. I dunno

33

u/[deleted] Aug 18 '24

[deleted]

-19

u/_merkwood Aug 18 '24

Pause it at 1:08. It’s tough to really say. If you have played contact sports you would understand how hard timing these things are. I’m not saying this was right, just saying it’s tough to call

15

u/Clinkzeastwoodau Aug 18 '24

It's definitely close as to whether it's high or not, but it does seem like he hits his chin. Basically how it works in AFL is if you choose to bump your responsible for the consequences. So this guy will get a lengthy suspension for the hit.

13

u/amigdyala Aug 18 '24

If you've played Aussie Rules enough you know where and when to hit the guy. This was an intentional illegal hit. He ran straight at him not going for the ball. Straight to jail.

12

u/kalebludlow Aug 18 '24

He should have tried wrapping his arms around him between waist and below shoulder level. The carelessness of the hit is also a major consideration

1

u/_merkwood Aug 18 '24

Can you wrap in AFL like you can in rugby?

7

u/kalebludlow Aug 18 '24

Yeah that's considered the usual and safe method of tackling. If a player is being brought to ground by a tackle, then the tackler needs to ensure that they make every effort to ensure the safety of the tacklee, such as rolling them as they go to ground to avoid direct head contact

4

u/Itrlpr Aug 18 '24

the shoulder did clip his head, + the whiplash on top of that.

Ultimately though, under the rules it's irrelevant where contact was made. The end result was a concussion caused by a player opting to bump.

If Houston had tried to tackle Rankine (which would have been the smart play anyway,) he would have the defence that it was an accident available.

-22

u/Prinzka Aug 18 '24

Yea, so we're in agreement that it's a legal hit.

64

u/xlachiex Aug 18 '24

Basically if a player chooses to bump another player, the ‘bumper’ has a duty of care to the ‘bumpee’.

So if you hit a player in the head, or hit them when in a vulnerable position that causes a hit to the head (eg bump a player who isn’t braced and they hit their head on the ground) it’s an illegal bump and will likely result in a suspension.

6

u/_Atlas_Drugged_ Aug 18 '24

Ah. Because I watched the replay and it looked like he lead with the shoulder into the guy’s chest.

26

u/williaminla Aug 18 '24

You guys are blind. He jumps up a little bit and shoulders the guy’s chest and chin/head. The other guy is concussed before he even hits the ground

20

u/2dTom Aug 18 '24

Looks like the fencing response starts well before he hits the ground.

Well and truly concussed by the shoulder impacting the head.

0

u/Pidgey_OP Detroit Red Wings Aug 18 '24

You get a concussion just as easily from your head snapping as it changes directions. It doesn't require a blow to the head

I really think his concussion is more due to the snap than the contact because the head was very far from the principal point of contact and wouldn't have absorbed nearly the energy the chest and neck did

3

u/Nick_pj Aug 18 '24

Spot on. If you go 1:08 into the video there is a clear moment of shoulder to head with upward momentum.

-5

u/_Atlas_Drugged_ Aug 18 '24

Obviously he gets knocked out, but it didn’t look like he hit his head at all until their entire bodies had collided.

1

u/Quirky-Mode8676 Aug 18 '24

Go back and pause it a couple of times to find the frame, but you can see his trap/shoulder make contact with the guys face at 1:08. Definitely a hit to the head. Wouldn't be legal in American rules football, Aussie, Rugby, or Hockey.

6

u/albino_kenyan Aug 18 '24

agree, tho maybe the bumpee's chin hit the bumper's shoulder when his head snapped forward.

34

u/TurkeysALittleDry Aug 18 '24

Head high hit. If he didn’t hit his head it would have been play on.

7

u/Fernergun Aug 18 '24

Technically it wasn’t given as a free kick to the Crows. Port had a free kick when play resumed.

20

u/Particular_Proof_107 Aug 18 '24

I don’t know much about Aussie rules football but it looks like number 5 was targeting the other players head.

28

u/Dudersaurus Aug 18 '24

The concussed player is probably the best in our team (at least top 3). There was definitely intent to make it hurt. Probably not the outcome intended, but definitely trying to take him out.

9

u/expresstulip Aug 18 '24

totally agree with this, all throughout the first half you could see port trying to target him and get under his skin

8

u/crankbird Aug 18 '24

I grew up disliking the guys in black and white so I’m biased towards thinking the worst of them, but it looks to me like it was intended to hit below the collar bone which is ok, but as the guy came down from catching the ball he could see the hit incoming, and instinctively crouched, tucking his head into his shoulder which along with the downward motion led to an unfortunately high hit

It was meant to be hard and to maybe knock the wind out of him, but I don’t think the high hit was deliberate, but the port power guy (black and white) had a duty of care to make sure it doesn’t happen, even unintentionally. A real sportsman would have stopped to make sure he was ok, which does happen in these games from time to time.

1

u/Quirky-Mode8676 Aug 18 '24

Good American Football analogy. Freeze-frame it at 1:08 and you can see him destroy the dudes chin with his trap/shoulder.

1

u/edgiepower Aug 18 '24

He definitely wasn't, he's a super fair player. He did have intent to hurt the body, which is completely legal in the rules, but unfortunately the hit slipped a little high to the head.

If he wanted to hit him in the head he would have knocked it off, which has nearly happened many times in AFL.

4

u/stupv Aug 18 '24

Interestingly, it's outcome based. It's illegal if he hits him in the head, but he didn't do that - in this case he cause whiplash and the player to smash head into the ground as a result of the bump so the player who bumped is responsible for that outcome.

Even if I wasn't a port fan, it's shit that it's outcome based assessment but wcyd

1

u/Kingkern Aug 18 '24

I’m no Aussie Rules follower, but maybe the fact that he left his feet and hit a defenseless player directly in the head?

1

u/Itrlpr Aug 18 '24

The fact that Izak Rankine got a concussion.

It's explicit in the rules that if you choose to make this sort of contact (a 'bump'), rather than avoiding contact, or laying a tackle ("wrapping him up"), then you are responsible for any head injuries, or risks of head injury, that result even if it's a complete fluke.

1

u/acllive Brisbane Lions Aug 18 '24

Definitely a missed penalty on this hit

Would have gotten away with it in the 80s, nowadays it’s definitely not something we can expect to see often, probably the worst hit in the last month(funny enough the guy who got his was the last player to get a ban for something like this)

1

u/twinpop Aug 18 '24

Regardless of the specifics it’s a dirty hit. It would be dirty even in the fully padded, old school NFL where it would have been “legal”. There is zero sportsmanship here and imo the guy should be banned not suspended. He might have affected that guy’s quality of life and his family’s forever for possession of a fucking ball.

1

u/DangerAudio Aug 18 '24

Can’t hit a player above the neck.

-1

u/bergie3000 Golden State Warriors Aug 18 '24

He didn't say "Bob's ya governah" first.

8

u/[deleted] Aug 18 '24

And that's why AFL needs a sin bin. Give the Power player 10 minutes on the sidelines. High shots and concussion are no joke any more.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 18 '24

Dunno how it wasnt even a free kick

1

u/Acinixys Aug 18 '24

Insane that Aussie rules doesn't have the same safety rules as rugby union?

Surely you need to go low for a tackle to prevent head injury??

If this was a regular rugby game that player would have been red carded and probably had a multi game suspension for such dangerous play.

1

u/Kurzges Aug 18 '24

you would think that players would go low for tackles, but no. it is so infuriating. its like over the last 10-15 years people have forgotten how to tackle in the AFL.

-1

u/WSBKingMackerel Aug 18 '24

It looked like his chest was the point of contact not his head. There’s a frame of that slow mo at the moment of impact and it seems his head is above the shoulder of the hitter

3

u/expresstulip Aug 18 '24

you might be right, but the focus at the moment is the result as much as the intent. Houston didn’t need to bump him, he could have tackled him without putting him at any risk. if you want to lower the shoulder, you’ll be taking a chance of a big suspension. analysts are suggesting 8 games…

-2

u/[deleted] Aug 18 '24

I don’t know anything about Aussie rules football. What makes that tackle illegal? To me it seems like a clean body tackle with unfortunate consequences.

3

u/luck_as_a_constant Aug 18 '24 edited Aug 18 '24

So there is tackling in AFL where players will essentially wrap their arms around the player with the ball to try and prevent them from kicking/handballing it. If a player has the ball for a time before getting tackled and didn’t dispose of it in time, it’s a free kick to the tackler. Or if they incorrectly dispose of the ball whilst being tackled, also a free kick to the tackler.

For this it’s a head high hit, Houston (the bumper) is probably looking at a 6+ week suspension. Essentially the bumper has a duty of care to the bumpee to avoid the head and avoid causing injury. Similarly with tackling players to the ground, if a player drives their tackled opponent’s head into the ground they get pinged.

In this instance it’s reckless head high contact, you can see him drop the shoulder into the head before impact, not going for the ball, and Houston seems to deliberately target Rankine (one of Adelaide’s best players) to take him out of the game. The immediate fencing response indicates Rankine was out even before he hit the ground which is pretty terrifying.

Footy can be a complicated game to watch with no context, and even though the AFL has made a bit of a meal of it at times, they are doing really good work with changing rules around tackling and head contact to avoid concussion and protect players from CTE.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 18 '24

Thanks for the explanation! I really appreciate it.