Now, I don't for one second condone what Barry Hall did to Brent Staker on Saturday night. But I do feel sorry for Barry Hall. He has such a tough/bad reputation, but before this incident, his last suspension at the tribunal was in 2002 - 6 years ago! I think it a bit tough that he has been controlling his anger (until Saturday) for so long, yet people still label him. He has worked hard, and this brief lapse has caused everyone to jump on the 'Barry Hall is a thug' bandwagon once again. True, before 2002, his tribunal record was not great at all, but those were back in the days when he played for St Kilda (1996-2001). I noticed an article in the paper today that listed the amount of times players have faced charges at the AFL tribunal - and amazingly enough, Barry Hall is not top. Some people may be shocked to hear this, but he is fifth on the list of current players! Shane Crawford tops the list, thats right, cheeky Shane Crawford - who doesn't have a reputation of being a dirty player - he has visited the tribunal the most times of any current player. It's amazing what influence the media has on our perceptions of players. Any incident Barry Hall is involved in, gets massively blown out of proportion, while golden (dirty) boy Crawford has never gained a bad reputation.
It's also interesting to note that as well as Jeff Farmer, and Josh Carr, the person who came in fourth place on the list, is one of my most despised players - Dustin Fletcher. I can't stand this guy, and while he should have a disgraceful reputation, he doesn't. His preferred method of gaining attention at the tribunal is tripping, which is a disgusting tactic, but probably considered minor compared to Barry Hall.
Anyway, Hall has a bit of karma when he broke his wrist Saturday night after an incident with a fence; while Staker will probably play this week. People are asking for him to be suspended for up to 10 weeks - poor Baz. He is sorry, and sore. And I just bloody bought him in my dreamteam last week, dammit!
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