Toughness in 2011

After watching the footy on the weekend the players deserve the pay increase that they are after from the TV rights deal. We hear people saying these days that the AFL are turning the sport into netball and that the players are not as tough as what they were in the old days. After watching the footy on Friday night and seeing Alan Toovey going back with the flight of the ball and being taken off on a stretcher i thought to myself when was the last time a player pulled out of a contest like that? There is now more contested footy, more tackling and more contests which brings the spectators through the gate and watching it on TV. There are not too many occupations in the world where you put yourself in front of 110 kgs knowing that you could get hurt and end up in hospital but if you don`t you won`t be employed for long. For that reason alone they deserve to be well rewarded.