ESSENDON coach Brad Scott has deliberately chosen not to look at a replay of midfielder Sam Durham's bump on Carlton's Adam Cerra, instead saying he would leave it to the Match Review Officer to do their job.
Durham made contact with the head of Cerra at the start of the second term when he chose to bump instead of tackle the Blues mid while he was collecting a ground ball. Cerra remained on the ground initially following the incident, but went into the rooms before half-time for a medical assessment.
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"No, I didn't look at it, I've got enough to focus on and it'll be what it'll be," Scott said.
"All of these things, whether it be MRO, other things that are out of your control, there's nothing I can do about it. I can try and shape the discussion one way or the other but I don't think they really care what I think.
"I couldn't even comment because I didn't even go back and look at a replay, I've deliberately not looked at a replay because I don't want to make a comment before other people go and do their job.”
In contrast, Carlton coach Michael Voss was clear in his view of the incident.
"I think it's pretty black and white, you just can't do that anymore," he said after the Blues' eight-point win on King's Birthday Eve.
"I'm conscious right now that it's an opposition player and I don't go down that path, but I think when you look at the clinical way of why we put the rule in the first place was probably that, wasn't it?"
The incident has brought to attention the coach and the players' role in clashes such as these and Scott was asked whether he encourages his players to bump.
"No, we encourage them to go low in the contest, make the ball their objective," he said.
"They've got to make split-second decisions. Imagine being a player now, you bump because if they haven't got the ball, it's holding the man. You want a tackle to dispossess but you can't dump them.
"I understand all the challenges in the game around health and safety but players have probably a more difficult job now in terms of duty of care to their opponents than they've ever had at any stage in AFL history.
"Durham's a go-ahead type player and as hard at the ball as anyone and that's really what we encourage him and our players to do."
Voss conceded that coaches need to approach the game differently.
"The reality is we just need to coach differently now," he said.
"We have to coach our players to let them win the ball and sort of step to the side and give them the opportunity to get their hands on it first.
"So that's the nature of the competition and what we're asked to do … I won't go any further than that. It'll get dealt with in the right channels."
Importantly, Voss said that Cerra had appeared fine following the game, but that club will monitor his progress throughout the week.
Despite almost giving up a 38-point lead, Voss said his side would enjoy the win, before resetting for next week. The Blues scored six goals to the Bombers' one in the first quarter, but were outscored for the rest of the match.
"I think we're sitting here saying … it's not all perfect. I think we sort of acknowledge that. But we're going to enjoy this win," he said.
"You know, what's really hard, the competition, and, you know, we cop our criticism. But then when it's time to enjoy our win, we're going to enjoy it. And then we'll lock in as professionals on Tuesday and we'll lock into our next opponents.
"We've got some things to work on and make it a little bit more consistent. But it's a good start. And that's what we asked the players to do. And they got the job done."
Carlton has a seven-day break before facing West Coast next Sunday night. The Bombers have another big challenge when they play Geelong at the MCG next Saturday afternoon.
