A Free Kick Against You, For Being Barry Hall

Sydney Swans player, Barry Hall, is in a tough situation. He has a reputation of being the bad boy that precedes him into games. It seems impossible for umpires to view him in even a neutral way. This is unfair, and opposition players take full advantage by coxing him into random acts of frustration.

Hall is the most picked on player in the AFL. He is able to be wrestled like WWE Smackdown and receive no free kicks yet the glamour full forwards like Lance Franklin and Matthew Lloyd only need a finger nail to grace their shoulder for a free kick to be awarded.

He is now giving away free kicks and 50 metre penalties on the suspicion that he has done something wrong. Such as the momentum shifting incident with Jarryd Roughead, when it appeared Roughead ran into Hall’s outstretched arms for a second 50-metre penalty to be awarded and a certain goal the result. Also, once giving away the first 50-metre penalty no less than six Hawks players got into his face egging him on. Of course he is going to push and shove.

Barry is hard done by, although he does himself no favours in his remonstrations no matter how justified he may be. Umpires tend to not change their minds and go on to adjudicate more harshly on the remonstrators.

I feel for Barry. But to a large degree he created this and now he has to live with it.