I really don’t like the staging creeping into the game.
I realise in many instances it can be difficult to determine conclusively what is staging and what is, let’s say, embellishment. There’s been a few discussions about Walters on here that proves that point. Think also about Shulz last week, who seemed to have only received a glancing blow, but was down for a while. The North fans thought he was milking it, so they booed him as he ran off the ground, and it turned out he was concussed. For that reason, I can see why the AFL will only hand out staging fines for the most egregious examples.
What drives me nuts though is the commentators lauding guys for, basically, cheating by instead calling it smart. In clear cases they should call it for what it is – cheating – if it’s less clear, I’d probably rather they said nothing rather than compliment the players on pulling one over the umpire.
There’s at least a few reasons why this is a bad idea, but I reckon if a player goes down like Mitchell holding his head, the umpire should send them to have the concussion protocol taken. If he was really hit hard enough to go down holding his head, then it’s good practise. If he wasn’t, he gets to sit there like a dill for 10 minutes getting a concussion test for a slight push.