I Don't Even Know the Rules Anymore

[Mr Reliable]

The rule I can't quite get my head around.....
behind kicked Full Back must kick it to himself if he wants to play on
Yet if the umpire calls play on, due to taking too much time, the umpire has called continue to play so the Full back should be free to do as demanded and play on, negating the requirement to kick to himself.

Far be it from me to understand the rules but he can play on as much as he likes, but if he wants to leave the square legally he must kick the ball to someone or to himself.

If Joel Selwood was kicking in he could just stand there until the umpire calls 'play on'. When the opponent rushes in and attempts to tackle, Selwood gets his usual free for high contact and can then exit the square without touching the ball onto his boot.

 

[Phillyroo]

Anyone watching this game (tigers v dees) how the hell wasn't that deliberate!!!!!!??????

 

[Tander]

Anyone watching this game (tigers v dees) how the hell wasn't that deliberate!!!!!!??????

Well old "stiffy for the umps" McAvaney thinks that the umpiring has been sensational this year...that guy must need a lot of blow to do his job...
That was delibrate 100%
Did you see the throw from maric in the ruck...and Ben brown gets called for a throw...* me!!!!!

 

[hotham]

Well old "stiffy for the umps" McAvaney thinks that the umpiring has been sensational this year...that guy must need a lot of blow to do his job...
That was delibrate 100%
Did you see the throw from maric in the ruck...and Ben brown gets called for a throw...**** me!!!!!

NO 4 Luke Farmer was umpiring last night. So expect rash decisions and a lot of guessing, resulting in WRONG decisions.

 

[Mr Reliable]

NO 4 Luke Farmer was umpiring last night. So expect rash decisions and a lot of guessing, resulting in WRONG decisions.

Please cut him some slack. It's a tough job when the AFL won't let him use his seeing eye dog.

 

[ThePezDispenser]

Are we free from those umps this weekend?

 

[Tander]

Are we free from those umps this weekend?

As long as common sense is ignored we will never be free!

 

[ThePezDispenser]

The rules made a lot more sense this week, across all games, funny that!

 

[andana]

Geelong got screwed twice. Its the even up, AFL style, from last week.

 

[astrovic]

Yep.... Do you see the word "intentionally" in there???
The point is.... If a player hardly ever kicks on his right foot (Jacobs) and he is under pressure enough to throw the ball on his right foot, how can the umpire adjudge that he "intentionally" kicked the ball out of bounds???

But thanks for your effort and input.

In a sporting context, "intention" isn't determined by what was going through the player's mind at the time. Umpires don't have the time or opportunity to stop the game and try and find out. Umpiring is a pretty rough and ready exercise after all.

Then there's the dissuasive element - the idea is to keep the ball in play as much and as often as possible. Leaning towards giving the player the benefit of the doubt erodes the purpose of the deliberate out of bounds rule. Unless you keep pinging players even though it is line ball, we'll be back to the old days where defenders just "kicked for touch" rather than trying to find a teammate (whether you think that is a good or bad thing is a matter for you, but the current AFL policy is keeping the play going as much as possible, and the rules are designed to reflect this).

If you get into non-preferred feet etc, canny players will just start slamming the ball onto their non-preferred (in the case Sam Wright is which foot exactly?) and kicking for touch, then claiming it can't be a free. Next thing that happens is that defenders start practicing their ability to deliver wobbly punts on their wrong foot which travel 50m but magically seem to always land just inside the field of play before bouncing over. Soon it becomes a skill like the banana or the dribbling goal from the forward pocket.

So inevitably "intention" is determined by what the umpire thinks the player was intending. To make this workable, umpires simply have to make a gut feel decision on the spot. Kicking towards the boundary, away from the play and while under pressure - umps are invariably going assess your intention to be to get the ball over the line, even if it was not what you were actually planning. It might sound weird, but all game long umpires are practically telling the players what they were thinking and intending, and the players just have to suck it up.

 

[LT Smash]

What annoys me about the deliberate rule is that they have completely ditched the deliberate rushed rule unless you drop punt from 30 metres out into the second deck. Or perhaps if you walk it through with no opponent inside the 50m arc. Even then there would be some arguing the defender was under pressure. They should get rid of ALL deliberate out of bounds or rushed free kicks, or else make them consistent and clear.