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Sport Nation
"I want it out": King calls for change on forced head-on-ground contact
Jaiden Sciberras • June 13th, 2025 7:30 pm
Laws surrounding the tackle have continued to raise a number of questions amongst the AFL world, particularly surrounding the coinciding concussion protocols.
The protocols suggest that if a player receives significant head high contact, the player must undergo a Head Injury Assessment (HIA) to ensure the contact has not caused concussion.
Club Doctors are also permitted to perform an on-field assessment at the Doctor’s discretion, allowing players to remain on the ground given the contact has not induced any significant damage.
Since the introduction of stricter tackling laws directed at protecting players from concussion, a number of incidents have occurred in which the player has performed an unnatural act to earn a free kick.
During the process of being tackled, players may intentionally throw their head into the ground upon being dragged to the deck, earning a ‘dangerous tackle’ free kick however not being removed from the ground for assessment.
With that in mind, SEN’s David King is adamant that any player who partakes in an unnatural act inflicting head contact with the ground must be removed from the ground for head assessment.
“So last night we saw the sling tackle again,” King told SEN Fireball.
“It wasn't much of a sling, Hunter Clark, (tackled Matt) Kennedy into the deck.
“He whips his own head into the ground and does a little fakey head grab ‘I’ve being hit, I've been slung tackled, I need a free kick’.
“Gets a free kick, bounces up, plays on, nothing to see, and I think he cons the umpire into a free kick.
“Can we agree that that player needs to come from the ground?
“If you take the free kick for the head contact, you need to come from the ground to be assessed.
“That will stop it in a heartbeat because players don't want to come for four or five minutes on the bench.”
While Fireball co-host Kane Cornes agrees, he concedes that determining the difference between a natural and unnatural collision will be difficult to determine.
Cornes: “I think it's harder to police than perhaps you give it credit for, but the premise, I agree.”
King: “It's easy to legislate.
“You're saying ‘I've had head contact, I need to be assessed’.”
Cornes: “There was another one that they actually looked at with Kennedy as well, at where he grabbed his head.
“He sort of bent over and got a glancing blow to the head and he grabbed his head, and they were looking at the footage on the interchange bench.
“So anytime you grab your head, you’re off.”
King: “When you're drawing a free kick, when there's a potential to be faking.
“I want it out. Just put a line through the fakers.”
