By MARK HEENAN
OCEAN Grove senior coach Wayne Walsh fears a BFL player will suffer a serious head injury unless more protection is provided by the league’s umpires.
Speaking after the Grubbers’ four-point loss to Modewarre, Walsh said the league’s umpiring governing body Geelong Football Umpires League requires better safety to protect players who go in head first over the football.
Walsh, who has coached Cobden, Camperdown and North Warrnambool in the Hampden Football League and worked as Head of Football at Geelong Grammar, believes umpiring standards towards head high contact had worsened in 2016.
“I haven’t seen anything like it,” Walsh told the Voice.
“It actually makes you feel sick putting kids out on the park.
“Blokes getting hit off the ball – the (umpires) don’t even blow their whistle until they see it and they don’t do anything about it.”
In round seven, young Grubber star Matt Caldow was hospitalised with concussion following a nasty sling tackle against Queenscliff at Shell Road where no report was made, which caused outrage among local footy fans.
Walsh made reference to an incident involving Grubber Christian West who suffered a broken cheekbone in round two last season against Drysdale where no free kick was given.
Walsh said his concern was not isolated to Ocean Grove, but a wider issue across the Bellarine competition and Geelong Football League.
“I am not just being biased towards one side,” Walsh said.
“I am saying in general, players in the Bellarine Football League don’t get looked after.
“We are encouraged to play the ball and we are getting our heads knocked off and getting hit off the ball.
“It has been happening week in, week out.
“The frustration the players on field are copping it, not me.
“Last year I saw it in the GFL finals blokes were getting hit in the head and getting no free kicks.”
On the flipside, Walsh said the BFL competition had been its ‘most even’ in a long time.
In round 11, at one stage winless Newcomb led Ocean Grove by 31 points before the Grubbers recovered to win by eight goals, while Modewarre knocked off league leaders Queenscliff on 11 June.
“Most of the sides are pretty even – you have got to be on your game each week,” Walsh said.
“It is pretty competitive.”
Modewarre playing coach Josh Finch, who has played in the Bellarine competition for more than a decade, said it was the most competitive the league had been in his time.
“This is the most even I have seen (the BFL) since I have been playing as a player,” Finch said.
