Lowest scoring opening round in 64 years

Jul 1, 2005
3,310
3,486
Perth
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Wildcats, Subiaco Lions, Bulls
Team prior means that players still won't be afraid to be first to the ball. Having no prior would mean players are always trying to make sure the other player gets it first.
There needs to be prior so people actually pick up the ball - but this "knocked out play on" rubbish should go.
If you don't kick or handball it, it's incorrect disposal / holding the ball. Reward the tackle.

And if you tackle someone over the boundary - and they had a chance to get rid of it - it should also be holding the ball.
 
I think the 6-6-6 rule helps scoring shot
Giving forwards space to get a shot away, but the defensive pressure is making them difficult.

And I think the kickin rule slows doesn’t scoring
Forcing the congestion further up the wing and reducing repeat forward 50 entries reducing scoring opportunities

All other rules don’t really help.
 
I enjoyed the games this weekend. I think the 6/6/6 opened things up a bit in terms of ball movement, but didn't translate to higher scores because 1 on 1 defence is so heavily stacked in the defenders' favour - just due to the way they are trained these days. Positioning and intercept marking is 1000x better than it was 20 years ago that means that with players more spread out, the forwards were finding it hard to score once the ball got down there. 6/6/6 means there is less opportunity for 'counter' goals against the play as when there used to be.

I'm happy with the visuals of the game.

The only people not happy are the broadcasters who are in a tizzy because they can't sell more ads.
 

gavaniacono

Cancelled
Oct 7, 2014
7,939
10,152
Hanoi
AFL Club
Richmond
Other Teams
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Glad the players have adapted to the new kick in rule. I haven't. I keep blowing my whistle. What is the function of the goal square? Looks a bit like an appendix that needs removing.

I saw less rolling mauls, that was nice.
 
Apr 12, 2010
14,674
23,284
Melbourne
AFL Club
Geelong
They would go for the ball, they just wouldn't be allowed to handball it to a teammate anymore who is instantly tackled and then forcing a stoppage.

Even better let your opponent go for the ball, tackle them, and enjoy either the immediate free or the one from the subsequent handball / possession / tackle.

Quick handpassing through traffic and out of trouble is an entertaining and skillful part of the game. Just because say the tenth link in such a chain ends in a halved contest doesn't mean it should be penalised.

I think we should stick to the rules on HTB, not how loud the calls for "ball" get from the crowd.
 
Apr 12, 2010
14,674
23,284
Melbourne
AFL Club
Geelong
The 666 change had an obvious effect and a more subtle one.

The obvious one is that we won't have any more "spare man" in the backline at bounces, which will be good especially near the end of close games.

The subtle one I have seen is how the flankers behave at centre bounces. It would appear they have a genuine decision now whether or not to run the extra distance toward the contest in the middle. Whilst this could help their team, there is a genuine chance the ball comes out too quickly and they get caught half a kick away in no man's land. Something I'll be watching as the year unfolds.
 

JohnnyFontane90

Norm Smith Medallist
Feb 14, 2014
6,481
10,001
AFL Club
Carlton
They would go for the ball, they just wouldn't be allowed to handball it to a teammate anymore who is instantly tackled and then forcing a stoppage.
we don't want to ever create a rule that disincentives (if that is a word) players from taking possession of the ball. this diving at the ball on the ground and making contact with players legs rule is already a joke. all the extra free kicks being created by that aren't helping the game.
 
Feb 28, 2007
51,375
66,872
Sydney
AFL Club
Sydney
we don't want to ever create a rule that disincentives (if that is a word) players from taking possession of the ball. this diving at the ball on the ground and making contact with players legs rule is already a joke. all the extra free kicks being created by that aren't helping the game.

I agree, but the player who is going for the ball still has prior opportunity, so he can go for the ball, it is just the player who he then handballs to 3 metres away that has no prior opportunity.
 
Aug 8, 2007
24,634
29,161
Melbourne
AFL Club
Geelong
How about stop making decisions on rules based on increasing scoring. The game has changed and can still be exciting without a goal every minute. It's just the result of the coaching and playing standards becoming more professional, which the AFL should want. This is the only sport I know where people obsess so much over scoring and many find it so hard to find any joy in general play and the endeavor to score rather than the result itself.

I personally think it's great how the game has evolved both tactically and in player fitness, and I wish we could just leave the rules and see how things progress naturally.
 
May 3, 2007
36,001
20,766
Parts Unknown
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
Man City, Valencia, Lazio, Panthers
Perhaps this was his plan all along. Introduce 'manic defence', wait for it to spread, and once all teams are addicted to it, POUNCE!! The sexual harassment stuff and years of underperformance was just a smoke screen to distract the other clubs and media from what has really been going on. Freo's first flag incoming.
Now we get Clive Waterhouse, Kepler Bradley and Tyrone Vickery out of retirement and our plan is set......
 

Blue1980

Brownlow Medallist
Jun 9, 2011
21,128
27,135
Melbourne
AFL Club
Carlton
Other Teams
Arsenal
How about stop making decisions on rules based on increasing scoring. The game has changed and can still be exciting without a goal every minute. It's just the result of the coaching and playing standards becoming more professional, which the AFL should want. This is the only sport I know where people obsess so much over scoring and many find it so hard to find any joy in general play and the endeavor to score rather than the result itself.

I personally think it's great how the game has evolved both tactically and in player fitness, and I wish we could just leave the rules and see how things progress naturally.

Soccer
Cricket
Basketball

All talk about scoring a lot and compare trends etc.

Lots of rule changes in soccer have been brought into promote more attacking play and more goals.

AFL rules and sport rules in general have never just been left alone.

I still haven’t heard one argument that 6-6-6 actually makes anything worse.
 
Soccer
Cricket
Basketball

All talk about scoring a lot and compare trends etc.

Lots of rule changes in soccer have been brought into promote more attacking play and more goals.

AFL rules and sport rules in general have never just been left alone.

I still haven’t heard one argument that 6-6-6 actually makes anything worse.

NHL as well - had a huge problem with low scoring and games being clogged up in the early-mid 2000s - changed the rules to open the game up and it became high scoring and a lot more exciting.
 
Not always, but i recon overall, it does.

It is rare that a 120 to 100 contest is described as a s**t game, yet lower scoring games more often are.

This :thumbsu: the low scoring brigade operate under the false assumption that close = good
 

calyam

Norm Smith Medallist
May 9, 2011
5,834
6,784
Melbourne
AFL Club
Essendon
One thing the AFL should consider in the 9-point goal from outside 50. It has been trialed in the pre-season but coaches don't strategies for temporary rules in a practice game. If incorporated into the actual season, it'd effectively spread out the defense since the cost of leaving players open around the 50m arc becomes too great.

As the defense spreads out the opportunities for leading forwards open up.

That said, we shouldn't overreact to a single weekend of games. A sample size of 9 games is far too few to determine whether a rule change works or not. We haven't even seen how coaches have changed defensive or offensive strategies yet.


Every year?

The NBA has rule changes almost every year. Although significant rule changes are relatively rare.

What the NBA does have though is patience. They give their rule changes a chance to flow through to team strategy and that can be important: the 3-point shot was introduced in 1979 and yet it took three decades before the change was fully incorporated into team strategy (essentially coaches / players didn't know how valuable 3-point shooting was until statistical analysis became advanced enough to tell them). The game today is practically unrecognisable compared to a decade ago due to changes in the amount of 3-point shooting.
 
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