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BRISBANE - This week's furore over sexual comments allegedly made by an Australian league player has sparked an unofficial re-drawing of the boundaries around the murky world of sports sledging.
It was a grubby story that dominated Australian headlines, ending when West Coast player Adam Selwood was cleared by a three-man Australian Football League (AFL) tribunal of serious allegations he made sexual remarks about an opponent's six-year-old daughter.
Selwood and his club are considering legal action, saying his reputation was permanently smeared by the widespread quoting of what he was alleged to have said.
Fremantle's Des Headland, who was enraged by what he heard, or thought he heard, during Saturday's match, attacked Selwood and had to be restrained by a trainer.
At the two-hour hearing, the panel believed Selwood's defence that he made sexual remarks about the tattoo of what he believed was an adult woman on Headland's arm, not knowing the tattoo was of his daughter.
So what is acceptable in that distinctly Australian practice of sledging?
Former All Black and now Brisbane Broncos league forward Brad Thorn said any comments about a player's children were universally off limits.
"If he'd said that to me he wouldn't have walked out of there alive," Thorn told the Courier-Mail.
"... If that happened in rugby league the word would be put out to the players at every club, and he would be made to pay."
Former Collingwood AFL star Tony Shaw admitted to successful sledges of opponents during his career.
"Question his sexuality, his parentage and tell him about our close encounters with his wife, sister and mother -- god forbid".
But there were clear no-go areas.
"He (Selwood) had been accused of using a child target, which in sledging terms is untouchable," Shaw wrote in the Melbourne Age.
"It is horrible, but a fact of life that sisters, wives and mothers who deserve much greater respect have been used as traditional targets.
"... Racism and religion sledging are out. Known illnesses and addictions are also taboo."
That leaves a person's weight, appearance, personality, wife or partner, and adult members of their family as sledging targets.
Like it or not, Shaw said it was a huge part of sport. He said the greatest reaction he got during his career was when he questioned an opponent's courage.
"It's about targeting the weak and those lacking in control, heightening emotional involvement and trying for a reaction.
"It is very childish and, in nearly all forms, involves mostly impossible scenarios. It can release frustrations and increase interaction in the contest.
"But there is still room for humour, such as South African cricket batsman Daryll Cullinan's famous retort to his nemesis Shane Warne who commented he'd waited several years to bowl to him again.
"Looks like you spent most of it eating," Cullinan reportedly said.
But misunderstandings, such as the Selwood-Headland incident, can see things turn ugly fast.
The most memorable was between Australian paceman Glenn McGrath and West Indies batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan.
McGrath reportedly asked Sarwan, mid-pitch, what a certain part of teammate Brian Lara's anatomy tasted like.
"Ask your wife," Sarwan shot back.
Normally that would be a good comeback, but the fact that McGrath's wife Jane was undergoing treatment for cancer saw things escalate, McGrath telling Sarwan he would "rip your f...ing throat out.
"In the AFL, operations manager Adrian Anderson today said umpires will continue to make reports on players sledging opponents, and could also penalise those using insulting, abusive or threatening language to opponents by awarding free kicks.
Comments of a "perverse, sexual nature" would be classed as unacceptable conduct.
*Cricket players are notoriously famous for sledging. Here is some of the most memorable:
# Rod Marsh and Ian Botham: When Botham took guard in an Ashes match, Marsh welcomed him with: "So how's your wife and my kids?"
# Daryll Cullinan (pictured right) and Shane Warne: As Cullinan was on his way to the wicket, Warne told him he had been waiting two years for another chance to humiliate him. "Looks like you spent it eating," Cullinan retorted.
# Robin Smith and Merv Hughes. Hughes said to Smith after he played and missed: "You can't f****** bat". Smith to Hughes after he smacked him to the boundary: "Hey Merv, we make a fine pair. I can't f****** bat and you can't f****** bowl."
# England's James Ormond had just come out to bat and was greeted by Australia's Mark Waugh. Waugh from the slips: "What are you doing out here, there's no way you're good enough to play for England." Ormond: "Maybe not, but at least I'm the best player in my family."
- NZPA, REUTERS
