Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge fears \u201cthe game will fall apart and disappear\u201d under potential restrictions to contact at the junior level.<\/p>\n
Under current rules, junior footballers under 13 can wrap tackle but are prohibited from bringing their opponents to the ground.<\/p>\n
However, the recent spike in concussion cases across all levels is prompting calls to lift that age beyond 14.<\/p>\n
Beveridge is hesitant about a grassroots change, saying a \u201cparanoid\u201d reaction to concussion could impact the game\u2019s preservation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spoke to someone the other day, one of the leagues brought in a rule that at under-10 level if anyone slung an opposition player to the ground they would be sent off \u2026 there were 10 players sent off,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to be really careful because the game will fall apart and disappear \u2026 that just can\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cKids have got to play a game that they enjoy otherwise they\u2019re going to walk away from it, it won\u2019t be the same game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to be careful with how paranoid we get with the civil liability side of concussion \u2026 if we get too paranoid about it, we\u2019re going to lose the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to make sure we nurture and foster the right things and I am not sure what the measures and middle ground is on that.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully. someone makes the right call, but at junior level it\u2019s going to be risky if they start being too restrictive about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The AFL is on the back foot regarding concussion and is set to implement new restrictions on contact training next pre-season.<\/p>\n
Beveridge says contact training is an integral part of every club\u2019s program but suspects the limitations won\u2019t impact the Bulldogs\u2019 approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one wants to dance around the seriousness of concussion and I don\u2019t think you\u2019re ever going to be able to eliminate the risk, but mitigating it is important,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think every team, every club has their own instruction that we go about our training in a certain way to do our best to mitigate the circumstances where you lose someone to a head knock.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you do need to train, you know, because the players need to familiarise themselves with it, they need to rehearse it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe play match practice pretty early in the pre-season. I\u2019ve had a look at some of the categories (and) I can\u2019t imagine we\u2019d need to change too much \u2013 we should be OK.\u201c<\/p>\n