Big bad Barry

April 15, 2008, 11:27am,  142 views

There is no excuse for Barry Hall’s brain explosion which led to him thumping West Coast’s Brent Staker.

In modern professional sport it was just plain silly and let his team down. There are cameras and umpires everywhere, so it was almost certain that Hall would be pinged.

Some of the criticism of Hall has lost perspective though. Sure he’s a thug who deserves to be rubbed out, but this has been going on in football for more than 120 years.

In fact, the game is much cleaner today than it has ever been. A bit of biffo adds some color to the game, and while I don’t condone it, the incident has everyone talking.

Take away the physical contact and the game becomes too sterile.

A “hip and shoulder” bump is legal, but can do much more damage than a punch, especially a punch by an amateur. Hall has boxing experience, which is why his whack hit home.

To Staker’s parents and some others who have been particularly vocal: meditate or take something soothing. If it was my son I’d be angry, but I’d want the system to punish the offender and I’d want the team to win retribution on the paddock.