AFL
1 year ago
“Surely that’s in the back”: AFL legend sees Draper-Walker moment differently
By Andrew Slevison
One of the more controversial incidents over the weekend occurred on Friday night in the dying seconds of Essendon’s narrow win over Adelaide.
In short it was a tackle from Crows forward Taylor Walker on Bombers ruckman Sam Draper which caused all sorts of consternation, particularly among the Crows’ faithful.
Debate has raged ever since, with Crows supporters crying foul and Dons fans saying nothing to see here.
Still that debate raged on Sunday night with Jimmy Bartel suggesting it should have been a free kick to Walker and the Crows deep inside their forward 50.
“I called it ‘pancaking’ on top of the football,” Bartel said on Channel 9’s Footy Furnace.
“I think he (Draper) thought ‘if I didn’t put my arms out and drag the footy, that wouldn’t be holding the ball’.
“The umpires got it wrong. I thought the whole point of four umpires was to get the best angle on that.
“He’s laying on top of it, he didn’t try to get it out.
“Leigh, was it a fair tackle to be counted as holding the ball?”
In response, V/AFL great Leigh Matthews firmly felt it should have been paid in the back to Draper.
He feels one of the fundamental rules of the game was missed, but did have some sympathy for the umpires who don’t have an immediate replay to help make their decisions.
“No, he jumped on his back,” Matthews exclaimed.
“It should have been a free kick to Draper. He (Walker) jumped on his back.
“Seriously, in the back is one of the fundamental rules of the game. I understand the umpires don’t seem to play it that way.
“But if a player is lying on the ground and you jump on top of has back, surely that’s in the back.
“That aside, if you ignore that it should have been holding the ball.
“The AFL statement doesn’t matter a whole lot. Anyone can look at the replays and with the benefit of hindsight (make a decision).
“But the umpires at ground level with legs everywhere, it’s easy for them to be not certain exactly what transpire. It’s easy on the replay.”
The AFL did release a statement on the incident, admitting it should have been holding the ball to Adelaide.
But that doesn’t really help the Crows who lost by three points and have slumped to a 1-5 start to the season.
