HAWTHORN coach Alastair Clarkson has joined the growing chorus of coaches calling for the AFL to crack down on players drawing high contact, following another controversial free kick in Saturday's win over Melbourne.
Clarkson's comments follow those made by North Melbourne coach Brad Scott and Sydney Swans coach John Longmire after their round 10 contest, which saw Kangaroo Lindsay Thomas criticised for drawing free kicks.
On Saturday, the issue reared its head again, with Hawthorn debutant Kade Stewart awarded a free kick in the last term for a high tackle, after appearing to drive his head into Melbourne's James Harmes.
The decision incensed the Demons' players, and several remonstrated with Stewart after he kicked a behind to put the Hawks in front by one point.
The AFL has made it clear the head is sacrosanct, but Clarkson said the current interpretation actually put players at more risk of serious injury.
The four-time premiership coach said change is needed at the end of the season.
"I hope it's done by the end of the year," Clarkson said.
"[AFL football operations manager] Mark [Evans] has been out there saying we don’t want to make the head a free hit, but at the moment players are using their heads as an opportunity to win a free kick and that is what's dangerous, very, very dangerous.
"We've done some really good things in the game to protect guys from injury. But I think this one about the head at the moment … it's not protecting the head because players are actually putting their heads in a position where it can get whacked. That is going to be dangerous at some point in time."
Scott admitted last week that he had instructed his players to sink at the knees or shrug their shoulders to win a free kick for high contact.
Clarkson said while he did not coach his players to search for high contact, he admitted there were several Hawthorn players who employed those tactics.
And he insisted players would continue to exploit the rules as long as an incentive remained.
"We've got some, other clubs have got more, but that's the way the game is," Clarkson said.
"As soon as you provide some enticement for a player to win an easy free kick, guess what, they're not concerned about their heads and concussion. All they're worried about is out of a pretty precarious situation, how can they find themselves a free kick.
"At the moment the umpires are being told [to] protect the head under all circumstances. We're happy [Stewart] got the free kick according to the rules at the present time, but we'd like to see that changed and I reckon a lot of other coaches would too."
In season 2015, the Laws of the Game committee cracked down on players ducking or driving with their heads, tightening the interpretation of holding the ball.
If a player chooses to duck or drive forward with their head, and are caught in a tackle, that is deemed their prior opportunity with umpires instructed to pay holding the ball.
