The game's structure is under attack, Lethal said; Round 23 match released; Demon Lever is back
He said Ginnivan had been the victim on Sunday, but it was not the referee’s fault, it was a decision born of a philosophical shift in the AFL. Matthews said his initial thought when he saw the incident was to ask himself, what did they do to the game? “And when I say ‘they’, I mean (AFL chairman) Richard Goyder and the commission which is the only body that actually changes the rules and [AFL CEO) Gillon McLachlan and his coaching cohort of advisers that are making the game easier for the tackler and harder for the bloke with the ball,” Matthews said. “It got my blood boiling. Every other player in the competition would have got that free kick … I felt sick. That was virtually not only a high contact headlock, it was bordering on unduly rough play.” Last Tuesday the AFL responded to the increasing number of players drawing free kicks for head high contact with a statement that outlined the directive to umpires. Mason Redman’s high takle on Jack Ginnivan. C...