Essendon Coach John Worsfold says he doesn’t feel Courtenay Dempsey’s tackle against West Coast was dangerous.

Dempsey was penalised for his tackle on Eagles midfielder Andrew Gaff and the umpiring department announced yesterday they were happy with the decision to award a free kick.

But Worsfold said he thought the free kick could have gone the other way.

“It looked like to me like it was a good tackle,” he said.

“It wasn’t in the back – I didn’t feel it was a dangerous tackle. 

“We didn’t hear anything from the AFL to warn us that it was a dangerous tackle, heading towards any penalty as such, but they deemed it enough to be a free kick.

“It’s in the eye of the adjudicating umpire.

“I would debate that it should have been a free kick to us or play-on.”

Worsfold said players are well aware they are not allowed to lift players in a tackle but doesn’t think that happened on this occasion.

“We have to now be aware of where that line is,” he said.

“There is no use saying we disagree because if they’re going to pay those then we have to abide by that.

“That was a really grey one – I think it was made just a little bit different because Gaff jumped in the air.

“Their argument was that Courtenay accentuated the lift, [but] the argument could be it’s hard to lift someone who is already on the way up.         

“He’s on the way up because he jumped and then Courtenay took him to ground.

“All the players are aware you can’t lift a player in the tackle.  Our argument is he didn’t lift him.”

Acting AFL Umpires Director Luke Ball stood by the decision yesterday.

“We think this is a correct call under the current interpretations of the rule that have obviously been tightened in the last couple of years due to the impact of concussion,” Ball told the AFL website. 

“Although Andrew Gaff probably slightly leaves the ground as he enters the tackle, Courtenay Dempsey – who is a really good tackler, it must be said – probably accentuates the lift and then tips Gaff into a pretty vulnerable position.”

“What the umpires are looking for is a player being tackled in a vulnerable position where his arms are pinned, or the lift and the slight turn, or whether the player is driven into the ground with excessive force.”