With the whole Hannebery/Hurley incident last night once again highlighting how players choosing to lead in with their heads I think it really does make it clear that it has had negative implications on the game. The idea is good to try and protect the head and all but when blokes are rewarded for using their heads as a battering ram it pretty much seems to defeat the purpose as blokes continue to drop their heads more and more into contests so its no wonder that the amount of concussions still continues to grow. You wouldn't see blokes leading into a contest with their head 10 years ago, players need to start taking a duty of care for themselves just as much as others need to take a duty of care.
You're right to an extent, although the most effective way to attack the ball is front on rather than side on. Unfortunately this will eventually change and tactics will be put in place to eliminate any sort of hard hits.
Go have a look at the stats for every game we won. Whether it was a 14 goal win or a 1 goal win, Boomer has been one of our most solid contributors. Even the games we've lost FFS.