- Jul 22, 2016
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Well said. (Not sure you even need five on the bench if you scrap those rubbish rules). The other ridiculous rule is the nominated ruckman rule. Here they are worried about congestion and one of the ways to clear congestions was to have someone third man up and knock the ball forward into the clear. It used to only happen a couple of times a game yet they killed it off and made ruckman put their hands up like children at school. Cue MORE congestion.The man on the mark rule is going to be a joke. The worst thing they can do to the game to ruin the appeal and look of it is to make it easy. Footy is supposed to be instinctive and the rules are mostly for players safety and fairness of the game. It shouldn't be about giving the offensive team and edge.
The more the AFL try and stifle defence the more teams are going to focus on defence when it comes to selecting players either through the draft or in their best 22. It's going to make the game very ugly.
More scoring isn't a good thing if the scoring looks easy. The most loved games in the world are games where the scoring is difficult and the game is challenging. Having a rule that lets the attacking player get around the defending player is going to look horrible, especially to people who haven't seen the game.
The best thing the AFL could do for the game is to fully embrace a defensive game and adapt the rules to suite attacking talented and highly skilled footballers over athletes. I've said it before and I will say it again. Scrap the kick out rule, scrap the man on the mark rule, scrap the interchange caps and put 5 on the bench. Then watch bigger stronger powerful footballers with skills and smarts and taller players up forward come to the fore over athletes who don't have these qualities but can run up and down the ground all day.
Scrap the rules of the game commitee. They always want to change the rules to justify their existence and get rid of Shocking who is an out and out idiot. Name ONE rule he's implemented that's made the game a better spectacle.
Finally, if you ARE going to change the man on the mark rule, making them stand there like a statue is equally as stupid as the hands up nominate your ruckman rule. At least allow 1m lateral movement either way so you can still man the mark in a (naturally) defensive way and if you overreach that then sure, give a 50 then the same way you would if someone goes over (forward of) the mark. That way you still cut down on the marker chopping off the 45 degree kick (if they think that opens up the game - the reason given) but don't make them look ridiculous.
I'm betting there will be half a dozen of them paid in the first game of the first round (anything from the centre forward will mean a shot on goal) and probably the first few games (let's hope it doesn't effect the results !) before the interpretation is changed (due to the uproar and the bad look) again to make it more lenient. Infuriating everyone.
Seriously, you can read these morons like a book. A book you've read over and over ad nauseum !
Leave the bloody game alone.