John Platten and Robert Dipierdomenico (in an incident involving Geelong's Gary Ablett). Unsociable football While the rules are more strict in the modern game (in the AFL there are now strict fines for melees for example), some teams still engage in "unsociable football". Targeting the bodies of other players, "professional free kicks" would often be conceded and sometimes even suspension. Even playing strictly within the rules, tackles can be extremely vigorous and injury-causing and occasionally teams appear to have a tactic of directing the strongest tackles towards a particular opposition player. In a match during the 2005 AFL season, an incident of unsociable football was accused of bringing the game into disrepute when an injured Nick Riewoldt was targeted by two Brisbane Lions players. Riewoldt had broken his collar bone and whilst he grimaced in pain, he was subsequently aggressively bumped by the Brisbane's Chris Scott and Mal Michael before he left the ground. Sledging and Taunting Without an offside rule and due to large open spaces, players spend a lot of time on the field next to or running with their opponents (termed "manning up") often long distances from umpires. Players often attempt to put off kickers when standing the mark. This gives opportunities for the psychological intimidation tactic of "sledging", or verbal abuse or intimidating opponents with body language equivalent to bullying. While vilification codes for sledging have been introduced in recent years with large penalties including distance penalties for players standing the mark, this tactic has been widely used since the game's early days and can lead to teams responding and large melees ensuing as players defend their teammates en masse. Players like Mark Jackson "The Clown Prince" were known to employ a large repertoire of showman tactics to upset and put the opposition off their game. References External links AFL Community - 2015 Coaching Manuals AFL Community - Skills portal Australian rules football terminology Tactics And Skills