Celebration reaction enough to choke on

Tony Jones

Friday, February 1, 2008

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Tony Jones is the face of Melbourne sports reporting for Channel Nine.

Have your say on the Williams choke.

It must surely be one of the greatest over-reactions we've seen in the AFL for many a year.

I speak of the incident at Launceston on Saturday in the dying stages of the Hawthorn-Port Adelaide game.

Hawks goal-sneak Mark Williams slotted one through to seal Port's fate. His celebration though might have also sealed his own.

With left arm raised, Williams placed his right hand around his throat. No-one was left in any doubt that this "choke" was directed firmly at Port Adelaide.

Some even suggest it was pointed specifically at the other Mark Williams, that being of the Port Adelaide coaching variety. The same one who afforded himself a similar celebration when Port won the flag in 2004.

The fallout from the 2008 version has been remarkable. Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson raised the issue before a question had even been asked at his post match media conference.

He not only issued an apology but suggested such behaviour from one of his players was the quickest way to find the exit door at Hawthorn.

He maintained his indignity on the Sunday.

"We just don’t like paying disrespect to the opposition in any way," Clarkson said on Melbourne radio.

For his part, Williams, the player, phoned Williams, the coach, leaving an apologetic message.

I appreciate that Williams' actions might not have been in the spirit of football and clearly he's breached his own club's code of conduct but really, are we not getting just a little too politically correct these days.

Williams is known for his post-goal celebrations. His collection once included firing an imaginary shotgun into the air.

The club soon put a halt to that.

Lately he's kissed the inside of both biceps, each of which are tattooed with names of loved ones.

This latest, admittedly, pushed the envelope but I'm yet to meet anyone who hasn't at least broken into a wry smile when watching it back or even seeing a photo of his hand placed around his throat.

The bottom line is this: don't turn the game into something sterile. Don't rid it of characters and don't ever forget it's all about entertainment.

What Williams did on Saturday wasn't the smartest thing he's ever done but how that can threaten his very existence at the club is beyond belief.

Should Williams be punished for his celebration?
Is the AFL losing its characters?
Is Clarkson right to insist his players respect the opposition?

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User comments

i think we all need to have a round robin competition once every 3-4 years with all states competing. the footy public deserve to see the best players in the land playing a fair dinkum competition instead of the joke the afl starts the season off with.... coaches dont take it seriously and it can be a very average game to watch for supporters, who end up more frustrated than usual. oh for the real thing, blood - guts - and gore. all for the love of the jumper.

The 'Dream Team' idea was nearly as half-baked as the ridiculous 'Allies' concept they tried to fob onto us a few years back to stop us from sending in emails that inundated them pleading with them to give us origin back. For those of us old enough to remember classic origin, it is something special, that even club footy can't emulate. It grates for me to see NRL which isn't even the third most popular footy code having origin, and our national game can't manage it. I remember watching Tassie beating the Vics (both full strength) in 1990 by 33 points at North Hobart oval and it was absolutely Brilliant! State passion and pride always outdoes club loyalties. I say bring back the old Australian football carnival, post season, so clubs don't argue about injuries etc. Two groups of four each playing each other within the group once each, top two go through to semi-finals, then final. No favours for any states. ALL states and territories included.

I would love to see State of Origin football return. However, I think it would be best played in October after the home

All for the State of Origin round robin instead of pre-season - pre-season is boring, teams are too willing to guard their players and forfeit the extra cash anyway - make it something the players want to play. I have to say that I wished I'd been back in Oz to see the game rather than having to watch highlights on youtube! Great idea, deserves a chance to be made into a (semi-) regular event!

Pre-season is about getting your club to a point where they are match ready in terms personsal conditioning and in terms of the "game plan". Playing S.O.O pre-season doesn't help either. For all those who don't like the Big V vs the rest, how will any other state compete if the Vics were able beat the best of the rest. If it were SA v the rest, they'd get spanked. AFL works best at club level, and there is no need to model it on other sports. It doesn't have the bi-partisan of League (which makes its S.O.O work so well), and I hate the recent tendancies for people to try and "model" it on soccer, given that the sporting environment for AFL is nothing like soccer. The AFL needs to find a new idea to showcase the best talent in the game. State of Origin didn't work, International Rules isn't working, they need to find a way to make an "All star game" (for want of a better name). As for the timing, there's always been a big debate over who should play on Anzac day...

What game?

Was he not born in south australia?

Bring back the old days of state of origin where it was south australias best verses victorias best. i was alot younger when it was played but still remember it was some of the best football i've ever seen, exciting, skillful and simply brilliant to watch. BRING IT BACK PLEASE!!!!

went to the game on saturday and must say it was a great match to watch i agree it would be ten times better if we had played the croweaters. and about 3 to 4 years sounds like a great idea but play it like the old days and make it an australian carnival

If the NRL can do, surely the AFL can.....and better!

I see three ways of doing this. 1. Replace the pre-season comp with a knockout State of Origin series. This would aid coaching staff of respective clubs in choosing key players for the regular season as well as aiding the clubs in marking prospective players for the next draft. 2. Mark the end of the season with a knockout State Of Origin series. This would help all prospective sides to choose the years best players and players with injuries would make way for the "up and comers" to play who would otherwise not get a chance. As well, it would help to mark those promising players for future drafts etc. 3. Again, hold it at the end of the season, choosing only the best performed players, free from injury, in a single side to play against the BIG V, in a best of 3 series. This could also assist in the make up of any "International" team.

What a fantastic night, besides trying to get car parking. My partner and i took our daughter, our aunt and cousins. Who all had a great time, the atmosphere was fantastic. We sat with the vic cheersquad and it was great that old rivalries could all get along and have a joke. Cant wait for the next one, whether it be 4 years 5 years or 2 years. what an experience.

We will not get state games because the dictator in charge of the AFL say's so. When are the Afl going to start listning to the public and stop cutaling to the big buisness. Footy was the people's game now its the corperate's game.

Run it bi-annually, covering the whole season with the main states playing (VIC, SA, NT, TAS, WA). Three rounds and thus three breaks, one at the start of the season, middle and after or before the gf as a final. Run it as a champions league style tournament, with the winners playing just before or after the gf. Just an idea. If its going to be done it has to be done properly. But the fact is, it HAS to come back

Why did the AFL get rid of S.O.O football anyway? Because like the rules of the game, the "suits" who control the game try to do all the "right" things for everyone, rather than doing what is best for the game. The Storm and Warriors play NRL but you don't see anyone complain that the S.O.O is QLD v NSW. Victoria, SA and WA are the main AFL states and these are the states that should play S.O.O football. Sorry if this offends anyone but its time for the AFL to stop being PC about everything. I'm sure Jason Dunstall was just as proud of wearing the Big V as he would have been wearing The Maroon jumper. Every two or four years is irrelevant, it's about making S.O.O work. Play it in the middle of the year and have a two week break for all players and scrap the pre-season (it doesn't work anyway). It can be the Vics v SA one year, WA v SA the next and WA v Vic the following or whatever. Players from other states nominate a state to represent or not play at all. Not everyone plays in a GF

I think the fact that Leigh Matthews didnt want many of his star players to compete was a indication of how many of the coachs felt about this so called state of origin. if the afl ever do it again please scrap the dream team and actually have the states represented properly. like they say, if its worth doin, its worth doin properly.

Nice idea Tony. How about every 4 years a true origin comp pre-season, and then the alternating 4 years, create a pre-season comp a little more like the FA Cup in England. You would add an extra round at the beginning where qualifiers from every state can line up. It adds a dream element to your average local club who could potentially line up against an AFL team.

I would like to see more interstate clashes. At least one per year and about this time of the year, too. The Dream Team were fantastic, and when they have at least one of your club stars in it like, Lance Franklin (Hawthorn), you find yourself almost barracking for the wrong side. It would be great to have back the Vic vs SA or Vic vs WA state of Origin again. Perhaps the players from the other states could be The Allies again, in a round robin carnival, say every two years. It lets great players who play in bottom sides regularly, experience playing with the best. And it's great footy to watch.

tony jones' journalistic ability and credability are summed up in his opening statements. he labelled saturdays game a 'state of origin' match. er... well i guess if you are victorian it was, but for the majority of football followers in Oz (SA, WA, Tassie, NSW, Qld, NT) it was nothing. i noticed the afl were careful to not refer to the game as such, instead going for the more accurate 'hall of fame tribute match'... c'mon tony, put your other eye back on. p.s. if that was SA v Victoria it wouldve been a sellout. How bout a state round every 2-3 years? they do it even more regularly in the SANFL, WAFL and VFL...

keep this joke of a game going but hold it in Tasmania,the AFL is pleading with the federal government for more funds,yet can find the vast amount of money required to play these mickey mouse games,hold in tassie and let the Tasmaniacs have something to support instead of apple trees

Firstly, no one can tell me why this game was held. What exactly happened 150 years ago that we are celebrating? Secondly the State of Origin concept worked well when it was in vogue but it was killed off by the partisan interests of the clubs, and this got even stronger when teams from other States joined the AFL. In the case of the Lions most of the players interstate. In the other states the public can go along and see players who were born and bred in SA or WA playing for their local club so who needs State of Origin?

As some one from a state other than Victoria bet lotsa Victorians didnt know there was such as thing. Playing state of origin when only one team was exactly that wearing a big V We got people from every other state and a guernsey that looked like we were cones used for training. waste of time yes waste of money probably not with TV rites and stuff I guess what iam trying to say is We didnt really want a week end off but some of the players did.

Michael of Victoria, you are obviously young, for it was AFL who started the concept of Origin, and for many years we had far greater crowds than the league jokers ever have had. Coaches and players tired of the idea when salaries increased and there was chance of injury. PXC of Adelaide, Goodes well may have been born in Sth Australia but the concept of Origin is where a player first plays football. Goodes first played with the Nth Ballarat Rebels, last i checked Ballarat is still in Victoria. If crapola is the only thing gonna come out your mouth its best to keep it shut. Demetriou, you were wrong about the Swans ability to win a Grand Final and you looked like a goose, you are wrong about players and supporters not wanting Origin football, save yourself another embarressment you imbecile. Go the BIG V, Stick it up em!!

Scrap both the State of Origin and the Pre Season comp. It's about time the AFL adopted a true home and away season with all teams playing each other twice - once at home and once away. This is the only way to have a truely fair competition. With the addition of new teams this will become less likely to happen and make the AFL more of a farce.

While the state of origin was a fantastic showcase match, the players might have just as well been paraded around the boundary line in open top cars!! That wasnt a football game! A friendly....they didnt even goin in hard! Understandable , considering risks to injury! I think the concept of State of Origin is a good one. But lets get fairdinkum and hold it at the end of the season... 4 weeks after the grand final. Then we can see a true battle for state pride!

Yes, have a State of Origin competition (I would have it bi-annually), but to make it more appealing and more attractive why not add a substantial financial incentive. Have ALL 6 States

Tony, It might have been State of Origin for the Vics, but for the Dream Team it wasn't. Please do not think this was a State of Origin game, as i believe this is disrespectful to the TRUE Origin games of times past. Bring back REAL State of Origin in a bi-annual or four yearly carnival as you've suggested, not this Yay for Victoria sham.

Saturday's tribute match was just that - a tribute match. In no way can it be regarded as a state of origin game. There are numerous reasons for this. Firstly, and most obviously, is that it was the state of victoria vs the rest of australia. Not a true reflection of state of origin. Secondly, only the 'Big V' was present - there was no mention of the history of the other footballing states(Yes there are states outside of vicotria,surprising i know). Instead, it was bunched to form a 'dream team'. Thirdly, the game played out like harlem globetrotters vs the generals. It had no meaning whatsoever. The 'Big V' beat a team playing for nothing - no history, no state pride. How can the leaders of the AFL pit a state team with a history and a team song, against a random team? Did the dream team even have a team song??? Finally, Adam Goodes isn't even victorian! State of origin died 9 years ago - let it rest in peace. Please don't desecrate it any further.

The Afl will never be able to compete on a representative stage with the likes of Rugby League, Union, and soccer. The vic's vs allstars on Saturday night was a joke despite the nearly 70,000 fans that turned up. Us victorian's would turn up to watch two grasshoppers fight, we have always been the same. Saturday night had no passion at all, and was merely a training run for those involved. Let's stick to our normal competition, and save the embarrassment of having this, or other so called 'rep' games in the future.

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