Essendon’s 19-point victory over the Hawks at Marvel Stadium on the weekend will go abundantly overlooked. The crucial win puts them 6-6 and within arm’s reach of the top eight. Dylan Clarke did another stop-job. This week’s scalp: Jaeger O’Meara. The dynamic duo of Michael Hurley and Cale Hooker were riveting in the back half raking in 12 marks each and holding firm against a wave of inside 50s for the Hawks. And a match-winning second half that produced eight goals to five, was full of speed and carry, strategic adjustments from John Worsfold and a clicking forward line. All of those things would be considered obvious highlights from the must-win encounter between two rivals.
But most of what we’ll remember from that game is how Hawthorn’s captain, Ben Stratton, launched a pinching spree at Bombers small forward Orazio Fantasia, a jarring act that sent the defender directly to the tribunal charged with serious misconduct – and outraged the football community.
On several occasions throughout the round 12 encounter, footage picked up Stratton pinching Fantasia on the arm to the visible aggravation of the small forward. The pinching left 10 bruises on the inside of Fantasia’s arm. In 2013 Dockers tagger Ryan Crowley, known for unsociable football tactics, was fined $1,200 for pinching North Melbourne veteran Brent Harvey. Pinching is a reportable offence and Stratton could face up to a $4,000 sanction considering he was observed doing the same thing against Brisbane two weeks ago and the severity of his actions toward Fantasia.
As you would expect, the commentary on Stratton’s actions has been stinging. Kane Cornes called for Stratton to have his captaincy revoked for a week and a club suspension imposed. The outspoken Cornes even went as far to say the AFL should implement a send-off rule to eradicate this kind of behaviour. Nathan Burke, former match review panel member said this is something we don’t want to see in the game and predicted Stratton could expect to be fined $1,200. And AFL commission chairman Richard Goyder said pinching shouldn’t be seen at any level of the game. “I’m going to go and watch some amateur footy later today. You don’t want to see it there and you don’t want to see it in Under-10s. You don’t want to see it anywhere,” Goyder told ABC radio.
Defenders use all kinds of tactics to get under the skin of forwards: stepping on toes, elbows in the ribs, body-on-body contact, the gentle-yet-constant bump. All of these things are meant to intimidate. Yet none cross a moral line. It’s part of the game. Forwards also expect these acts to happen. There are no surprises. But when you add the act of pinching to that list it seems largely peculiar and out of place. It’s something you’d expect to see at a high-school level and it begs the question: why would a professional footballer resort to pinching? There are certain acts in football that are frowned upon, like the coathanger, or head-high bump, because of the danger involved but also the intent to harm.
The act of pinching is a practice unbecoming of a professional AFL footballer and not within the rules of the game – but nor is it an act that breaks a jaw or ends a career. Yet when you think of the league’s elite players, you think of skill, athleticism and speed. Certainly not the child-like ploy of pinching to agitate and to get attention. It is not a skill players need for football.
In 2018 Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand licked the face of Tampa Bay Lightning forward Ryan Callahan as a way to get under his skin. It brought on a torrent of criticism. Although the NHL didn’t charge Marchand – he was put on notice – he’ll forever be known as the guy who licked another player’s face. Whether the AFL fine Stratton, suspend him or offer some other punishment – perhaps creating a Stratton Rule: do no pinch – the Hawks captain will have to live with the embarrassment of his actions.
Whatever the incident was – a brain-fade or a slap on the wrist-moment – it tells us something about where the Hawks are at this year. For a team that has built a legacy on straight lines and hard, fair hits, this was very un-Hawthorn-like. The 2019 version of the Hawks is different – a middling team trying to find themselves after a long period of dominance. So to see Stratton, their captain, an accomplished defender, engaging in an ignominious act suggests previous mechanisms are no longer working. They are searching for new ways to stay relevant and make gains. But pinching is not the answer.
