Give Barry a break or his career will be cactus

Here’s the thing: I’m actually on Barry’s side this time.
Watch the above YouTube link.
In that one minute, 56 second video there are three distinct 50m penalties.
Penalty one: The initial free kick, awarded to Hawthorn’s Jarryd Roughead, was for holding the jumper. Hall blew up, and conceded 50m.

Verdict: A fair cop on the initial call, although it was by no means clear cut. Hall claimed his arms were held, an argument that was not without legs, so to speak. No arguments, though, with the 50m for dissent.
Penalty Two: The second penalty, awarded for felling Roughead looked suspiciously like gamesmanship by Roughead. Hall was still clothes-lining his arms in disbelief after conceding a 50m penalty for the first offence, when Roughead appeared to run into him quite deliberately. Let’s just say that if an oil tanker had stood where Hall was, Roughead would have found a way to miss it.

Verdict: A match report today said Hall “slung Roughead to the ground”. Uh-huh. Just like Lucas Neill slung Fabio Grosso to the ground in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
Penalty Three: The third penalty, for elbowing Hawthorn captain Sam Mitchell, was impossible to dispute. That said…

Verdict: The 50m decision was technically correct, but someone should have a long hard chat to niggle-monger Sam Mitchell about what it really means to be an AFL captain. Running up to an opposition player with an inane grin on your face probably isn’t it.
So where now for Barry?
In the short term, obviously the doghouse. Though probably not the tribunal, where last year Hall copped seven weeks for decking West Coast’s Brent Staker, after which he spent serious time on the shrink’s couch.
Beyond the short term? That’s for Swans coach Paul Roos and Hall himself to decide. But if Hall draws a premature end to his career, who could blame him?

For years now, he’s been treated like a man with a rash by umpires.
There was a classic case in the third quarter yesterday, where Hall was denied a mark when the umps said he grabbed Robert Campbell’s jumper. Honestly, Marcel Marceau in his prime made stronger hand contact.
One explanation for why Hall cops the white maggots’ constant wrath is that the game now is littered with small forwards. So when a big bloke like Hall uses his bulk to win the ball so easily, the umps instinctively sense mischief in the air.
The other reason is his past record. Cricket umpires, often unwittingly, will give a batsman out LBW after two very close calls. It’s the “two halves make a whole” mentality. Hall, because of who he is and who he’s been, is effectively always on his last chance the minute he takes the field.
It’s all a shame, really, as Hall is nowhere near as bad a bloke as many would make out. I’ve only met him twice, but we had an exchange in our first interview which always makes me laugh.
Hall, as you may know, is a keen gardener. So I asked him what kind of plant he most resembles.
“A cactus,” he said, with the big, wide grin of a man pleased with his response.
Unquestionably, Hall is a prickly character. But it’d be a shame if this weekend’s events mean his career is spiked before its time.