As a football addict for more than 50 years who appreciates the bump and players’ toughness at the ball, even I am confused about the intent in the minds of AFL players. It seems disturbing if Wayne Carey got it right when he wrote, “Fear is a major ingredient of the game and if you can spread fear among your rivals and even hurt a few along the way (legally), then you’ve gone a long way towards winning the overall battle on the scoreboard” (“Let’s do the BUMP”, 16/5). Call me an ignorant wimp if you like, but I can only recoil in fear at Carey’s claim that hurting rivals, albeit legally, is intrinsic to our game. When brain injuries are on the agenda for past and present players (“AFL steps up research into brain trauma”, 18/5), I can only ponder what is the covert conspiracy of the clubs when they plan their strategies to win on the scoreboard. Don’t let’s rue the “what if” when it turns into the “I told you so” when a player dies, albeit legally, on the field.