Michael: It was a push
17 June 2007 Sunday Herald Sun
Jon Ralph
ESSENDON full-back Mal Michael says the controversial Round 9 push-in-the-back free kick paid against opponent Matthew Richardson was definitely a free kick.
But he feels for the umpires being made to enforce the rules crackdown.
Michael revealed yesterday he has been forced to break with a decade of playing from behind opponents, and is now playing in front to cope with the new rule.
Early in the season there were fears Michael would be driven from the game as a result of the new interpretation, which saw him give away a host of free kicks in the Round 1 NAB Cup clash against Carlton.
He has slowly come to grips with the tightened interpretation and says, while Tigers' forward Richardson did infringe, it was a still only minimal contact.
"A push (in the back), probably no. I would say it was more of a nudge, but it's still a free kick. I feel sorry for the umpires because a lot of people come down on them," Michael said.
"I copped a fair bit early on and I wasn't willing to change, but if you don't change you keep getting free kicks against you.
"I didn't like (the rule) when it came in, primarily because of the fact I was giving away free kicks. You just have to change with the rules and that's what I have had to do.
"I have varied my starting points. The past three weeks I have tried to play in front. I always played from behind or the side."
Michael said it was now much harder for players with less reach to compete on the last line of defence.
"It was a very hard habit to break because it was my comfort zone.
"I felt most comfortable playing like that and then suddenly, from a defender's point of view, there were a lot of things that I used to do which were taken away from me and I had to find other ways of how I could be effective."
Fellow defender Dustin Fletcher says he has also adapted to the rule.
"I think when you push someone and extend your arms it should be a free kick," he said.
"But the ones where they are coming back at you and you just put your hands there so they don't come back into your space, that is the tough one to get hold of."
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