Stay Away From Nick Riewoldt’s Underground Passage!(Media Street)

 

Nick? Are you down there? Can you hear us?

Tunnelling. Nick Riewoldt doesn’t like it. Matthew Richardson doesn’t like either. Craig Bolton has never even heard of it…and apparently he’s an expert. Yep, it’s this week’s Football In Crisis issue! So, what the heck is this tunnelling business anyway?

EXCLUSIVE: Sydney’s New Game Plan

Tunnelling occurs when a forward flies for a mark and the defender takes out the player’s legs whilst in the air. This happened more than once to Nick Riewoldt when Craig Bolton ran under him in the St Kilda-Sydney game, leaving him…well, shafted basically! 

Even though Riewoldt’s spectacular falls were by far the most interesting thing to happen in that game on Saturday night, the Saints are making a formal complaint about what they see as a deliberate tactic. The Swans are feeling victimised…again.

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So, what’s going to happen? The League will say that this was not a deliberate tactic but the umpires will start awarding free kicks on defenders standing under the airborne forward…starting right now. Well, they should have blown the whistle on these incidents with Riewoldt in the first place but clearly, the umps were too busy awarding frees for in-the-back to players who flop forward the instant a tackler makes contact.

Either way, if you think that Nick Riewoldt gets his fair share of free kicks already…you ain’t seen nothing yet!

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In non-tunnelling news:

• Injured Pie Sean Rusling expecting the worst from shoulder scan…yep, it’s made out of Cheezels;
• Fremantle say they didn’t lose because they are old…they lost because they are crap;
• How does Essendon replace Scott Lucas? David Hille reckons they have three or four players who can ignore teammates and shoot for goal from 75 metres out!
• Geelong coach Mark Thompson is unsure whether an extra four days break will be of benefit for the Essendon game. Depends how the players spent their break – if it was like us, who did nothing but eat Easter eggs for four straight days…then no, it won’t.
• Jason Akermanis attempts to set the record straight about his departure from Brisbane…no need Aker, we all know that they hate you!