Hardwick says volatile nature of AFL means players can and will get hurt (HSun)

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Richmond coach says volatile nature of AFL means players can and will get hurt

Some AFL coaches have declared the bump is dead, but a premiership winner says the game is so volatile it is hard to avoid.

News Corp
March 23, 2023

The bump may be dead according to some AFL coaches but premiership winner Damien Hardwick says the “volatile” nature of the game will make bad collisions unavoidable no matter what law makers try to stop it.

Three big hits in the opening rounds of the season that resulted in suspensions of varying lengths and injuries of different degrees, as lawsuits over historical treatment of concussion swirl, has made the bump the biggest talking point in the game.

Several AFL coaches said it was no longer a part of their coaching philosophy, with tackling preferred, and some leading players even declared it had to be eradicated.

While Hardwick subscribed to the tackle before bump theory, he said split-second decision making in the heat of battle would always be a part of the game and bumps would occur regardless of how much players tried to avoid them.

“There are going to be accidents in game you know,” he said on Thursday.

“Players don‘t deliberately go out there and try and hurt opposition players, but the fact of the matter is, it is a volatile game.

“It‘s easy to say not to bump, but then when you’re in that situation, sometimes it does happen. I think we’ve just got to accept that it does happen. We just got to make sure that no one gets hurt.

“We prefer the guys to tackle, but until you’re in that situation and you’ve got to make that split second decision, it’s tough.

“We’ll be talking about it now, and we’ll be talking about for the next 10 years, so it’s just one of those things.

“The head is the most important thing we protect. Obviously, with the current situation with where the AFL landscape lies, we’ve just got to make sure that we continue to protect the player.”

https://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/richmond-coach-says-volatile-nature-of-afl-means-players-can-and-will-get-hurt/news-story/b2257e774bb48464fdadc15496423fcf