Buckley: AFL's bump verdict right
By Australian Associated Press
Published: 04:53 GMT, 20 May 2014 | Updated: 04:53 GMT, 20 May 2014
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Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has praised Sydney's Dan Hannebery for a contentious AFL bumping incident that attracted match review panel scrutiny.
Buckley said Essendon opponent Michael Hurley had used incorrect technique by leaving himself wide open for Hannebery's high contact.
The panel cleared Hannebery for Friday night's incident, which generated plenty of discussion over the weekend.
It was the latest instalment in the debate about whether there is still a place for the bump in the game.
Buckley said Hannebery's only other option was not going for the ball.
"If you're trying to create a legislation that takes a footballer away from playing football, it's pretty hard to maintain," he said.
"Hurley should have expected contact and he should have approached the contest in a different manner.
"Michael left himself open, (while) Daniel attacked the contest in the right manner.
"I'm glad the decision went the way it did, but it just highlights for me ... that you have to coach people to protect themselves."
Buckley also is concerned that when AFL players go into a contest head-first, they might be setting the wrong example for lower grades.
"I just hope, at junior levels, that coaches are still coaching their players to turn their body and take the ball, rather than leading with their heads," he said.
"If we have too many leading with their heads, as Michael did, you're probably going to result in greater injuries.
"So we still have to be teaching technique.
"While you want to legislate for things, you have to teach players to protect themselves."
Buckley said the Magpies keep training their players to tuck their head behind a shoulder when going for a ground ball.
"We don't want to lose a player, but we want to hit the ball hard and we want to go and win the contested ball," he said.
"If your focus is on the football, there can't be anything that can work against you.
"It is the most important tenet of the game."
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