Putting your opponent off with some verbal tit-for-tat is as legitimate a tactic as a bit of push and shove.

But reducing that banter to a personal level is not in the spirit of the game.

Port Adelaide's Kane Cornes and Bulldog Will Minson involved themselves in an ugly slur campaign at the weekend.

Minson allegedly made a comment to Cornes about his ill child, with Cornes responding with a quip about Minson's late father.

Minson, it is said, immediately felt remorse and reported his comments to a team manager as soon as he came off the field.

An apology was offered and the matter seems to have resolved itself without the need for official intervention.

While it is unfortunate that the incident took place in the first place, it is encouraging that the players involved were aware of the inappropriateness of the situation and took the initiative to fix it.

More than 10 years ago, the AFL introduced guidelines for dealing with racial and religious sledging during football matches.

Managing personal sledging is a more difficult task. It may not be as obvious to a player what constitutes an inappropriate personal attack on another player.

Having said that, there is no shortage of examples of sportspeople who have overstepped the mark and been brought to task accordingly.

In this enlightened age, saying "I didn't realise" does not cut it as an excuse.

It may be that the best way for the AFL to handle these personal sledging issues is to put the responsibility back on the players themselves.

Clearly, Will Minson knew he was out of line and acted to fix the record. It would be nice to see more players be as accountable.

Sad ripples in ponds across the country

AS another family tragedy plays itself out, this time in NSW, many are left wondering at how such things can happen. In this case, it is the community of Cowra that is trying to come to terms with the unthinkable in its own backyard.

While it is those at the epicentre of this event who will obviously feel it most, the tragedy ripples across the country. There will be very few anywhere not touched by it.