Shepherding (Australian rules football)

Shepherding is a tactic and skill in Australian rules football, a team sport.

Shepherding is the act of legally obstructing or preventing an opposing player from gaining possession of the ball or reaching the contest.

The term originates from the the word shepherd, someone who influences the movement of sheep in a paddock. Through shepherding, Australian football players are able to influence the movement of their opponents.

It is distinctive to Australian rules football, as it is an illegal form of play in many other codes of football, such as rugby league, rugby union and soccer, in which obstruction rules typically apply. The concept of shepherding is very similar to blocking in American Football [American footballers face the opponent they are blocking, while the Australian footballer most frequently standing in front of and facing away from their opponent when shepherding] .

Under the Laws of Australian Football, a player can block or obstruct any opposition player at any time, with the exception of contests where players contest the ball in the air, viz. marking contests and ruck contests. In such contests, all players are allowed to contest the ball and a free kick is paid against a player who is seen to shepherd an opponent; in practice, this rule is inconsistently applied, and free kicks are paid only against blatant shepherds by a player whose eyes are not on the ball. Players may not make high or low contact during a shepherd, nor hold their opponents; free kicks should result from any of these infractions.

Shepherding is classified as a "one percenter" skill.

Techniques and Tactics

There are varied techniques of shepherding:
[
Women's Footy.]

Bumping

A player can legally bump "any" opponent (not just the player in possession) who is within five metres of the ball. It is similar in some ways to body checking in men's ice hockey.

As bumps can cause serious injury, there are rules to protect players, particularly to protect the head of a player being bumped. A bumping player's feet should not leave the ground, and a player may not bump an opposition player if both of their feet have left the ground. Mid air collisions can happen in a marking contest when both players are committed to the ball, however these collisions are considered accidental or incidental when both players make the ball their primary objective.

Although arm contact is allowed whilst shepherding, no contact can be made with the head of an opponent whilst bumping. Stray elbows can be extremely dangerous. Typically, if any high contact is made in a bump, a free kick is paid to the player who is infringed. Decades ago in the VFL/AFL, there were less strict rules on bumping, and hard bumps, particularly on players with their head over the ball could often send players to hospital with concussions and broken bones. The bones, particularly of the hip are extremely hard and can cause plenty of damage, although some players who frequently bump other players can later suffer hip complications. Incidental clashes of heads can sometimes happen when players bump or collide at full speed and this can cause serious head and or facial injuries.

An aggressive front-on bump is often called a "shirt front" and is an illegal and reportable offense (but again, often subject to interpretation). In some cases, for example, both players will charge each other, sometimes in opposite directions, resulting in a high impact collision. Other times, both players charge at each other with full commitment to the ball. Also, a player with the ball may aggressively bump opponents that are attempting to tackle them. These incidents are generally not reportable.

Bumps can come from any direction and are often unexpected by a recipient. Playing the game therefore requires considerable courage, as little padding is worn by players to protect their bodies from high impact collisions. It is generally deemed the responsibility of anyone "in play" to protect themselves from bumps. Players will sometimes wait for an opponent to be within 5 metres and "line up" an opponent for a bump; if they begin running to lay a bump for a distance greater than 5 metres, they can be reported for "charging".

Bumping is often described as happening "behind the play", meaning that unless it occurs during a contest for the ball, it is not always the focus of television cameras or spectators. This can also makes it difficult for field umpires to detect infringements. An umpire will often call "fair bump", or "play on" in response to a legal bump. If a bump is late and the player has already kicked the ball, then it often results in a "relayed free kick", which is given to a player on the same team further towards their goal.

hepherding

Shepherding typically involves a player using their whole body to stop an opponent from reaching a contest, and usually to stop an opponent from tackling a teammate or getting to the ball. The most effective shepherding is done with outstretched stiff arms and use of strength and body weight between the player and his teammate. Shepherds are typically classed by effectiveness:
* "Strong shepherd" - which completely stops the opponent in his chase;
* "Weak shepherd", which has the positive effect of slowing the opponent down, maybe causing him to change direction, but does not completely stop the chase.

Blocking

Blocking is a subtle form of shepherding in marking contests. While it is often technically illegal (depending on the interpretation), it will almost never be penalised. The most common way to block is to run between a leading forward and his pursuing opponent, slowing down the defender so that the forward will take his mark uncontested. It is also often used by defenders as a defensive tactic to prevent their opposition forwards from leading into space.

Bumps vs Tackles

A tackle is often used instead against a player in possession of the ball. Although a bump can be a harder physical hit, however it is less likely to be effective in dispossessing a player of the ball and more likely to concede a freekick than a tackle. Additionally, an effective tackle can rewarded with a free kick, whereas a bump cannot. Like tackles, a bump from behind will often cause a "push in the back" and the penalty is a freekick.

Controversy

Although there is no specific rule against it, umpires in recent years have typically interpreted it as high contact and penalise bumps on players with their head over the ball (when picking the ball up off the ground).

In the 2000 AFL Grand Final, Essendon's Michael Long bumped Melbourne's Troy Simmonds while his head was over the ball, causing him to be knocked out. In the first major crackdown on head high bumps, the league suspended Long for four matches over the incident.

The game's governing body, the AFL, set a precedent in 2005 when it charged Byron Pickett with "rough play" for bumping James Begley with his head over the ball during the pre-season NAB Cup, even though both players were involved in the contest. The incident caused controversy and many commentators had called to "Ban the Bump". The league's reaction in suspending Pickett for six matches also caused controversy, accused by many of handing Pickett a heavier penalty and inventing a new rule and using a vague ruling to unnecessarily victimise Pickett. In response, the league progressively introduced a range of new interpretations giving it the power to penalise players for similar actions. Many players had learned the game and grown up knowing how to protect themselves and with the instinct to bump in these situations and the rule changes drew criticisms for these reasons.

In 2006, Justin Koschitzke was rendered unconscious by Daniel Giansiracusa with a legal hip and shoulder after both players accidentally clashed heads. Koschitzke appeared not to be aware of the oncoming Giansiracusa bump, however Giansiracusa was later cleared. [ [http://westernbulldogs.com.au/Season2007/News/NewsArticle/tabid/4112/Default.aspx?newsId=24356 Giansiracusa in the clear] ] . Koschitzke was diagnosed with a fractured skull, and was expected to miss 4–6 weeks. The incident sparked media drama in many parts of Australia, and when Koschitzke later fainted on television, it was thought that it was related to the bump, however brain scans found nothing abnormal. He wore a helmet to protect himself.

The bump caused further controversy 2006, when Blake Caracella suffered a career-ending neck injury after an accidental bump from former teammate Tim Notting which fracturing several vertebrae and bruising his spinal cord. The injury horrified the football community. AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou saying that the speed of the game and the professionalism and physiques of modern AFL players were to blame (something that recent AFL rules have actually been designed to increase). In a speech, he used the unfortunate phrase "break neck speed" to highlight the problem. Caracella revealed that scans had shown his spinal column was naturally narrower than average. This condition would have ruled out a career in any professional contact sport had it been diagnosed earlier, and added to the sense of relief that the injury was not considerably more serious. However, he claims that he now suffers virtually no ill effects resulting from the collision. Other players, such as Carlton's Nick Stevens, have sustained similar injuries.

The league introduced further rule interpretations in 2006, highlighting these incidents as examples. It continues to be accused of inconsistency and a lack of clarity in the interpretation of such rules, particularly after a bump incident involving Collingwood's Alan Didak's elbow. [ [http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2006/08/28/1726288.htm Didak report thrown out] ] Brodie Holland (on Brett Montgomery) and Ben Johnson (on Daniel Bell) have attracted maximum penalties (the same number of weeks as Pickett's 2005 bump) for bumps of this nature. In defence, the AFL has released reports by medical experts claiming that serious head and neck injuries could be caused by this type of bumping, especially at high speedsFact|date=August 2007. Despite these claims, the only case of quadriplegia in the history of Aussie Rules was suffered by Footscray's Neil Sachse in the 1970s, and which was both accidental and not related to a bump.

References