Bouncing the Ball....why ???

[ptw]

Read Martin Flannaghan's (sp ?) book "The Call" recently.

In the 1920's Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was visiting the MCG and saw a game of VFL. He noted what a great game it was (particularly the lack of an off-side rule) but was perplexed by the fact that the players had to bounce the ball.

One of the explainations given was that Harrison who help codify the rule was one of the fastest runners in the colony and he brought in the rule to slow players down to enable the chaser to catch up. Another explaination was that he was not the fastest and he brought it in to enable HIM to catch up !!!

Anyway...got me thinking of what purpose bouncing the ball has....and what the impact would be if we got rid of it ??

Clearly the game would be faster, maybe over time it would help spell the end for the big players....or maybe it would improve the tackling skills and players would hold the tackle longer...because if the guy gets away you are not going to be able to catch him.

I enjoy a bit of chaos theory....so maybe if the player did not have to bounce the ball at all then the game would evolve into something unrecognizable.

any views ?

why don't we just ditch the rule ?

what about kicking over the man on the mark ?

not being able to kick in until the umpire has waveded the flags ?

not being ble to throw the ball...why ?? what difernce does it make ?? The VFA allowed throwing the ball for a while and it really sped the game up.

where did these rules come from ?

ptw

 

[Dan26]

Very good points all of them. If you were developing Aussie Rules from scratch, with no history, we wouldn't have a "bouncing" rule, and you'd probably be able to throw the ball too.

Of course if there was any change these days, there would be an outcry from traditionalists, even though the affect on the game itself would be minimal. It might even make it more attractive.

The one rule which should be changed is the "hit the post" rule. In all other sports if it hits the post, it is still a goal, as long as it goes thrugh the scoring area. Even in basketball, it is still a basket if it hits the rim and goes in, without being a "swish".

I believe all 4 posts should be of equal height. What is the point of the behind posts being smaller?????????? It just makes it more difficult for the goal umpire to do his job. Anyway, I think all the 4 posts should be of equal height, and if the ball hits the post, but goes through the "goals", then it should be a goal. If it hits the post and goes through for a point, then it should be a point. If it bounces back into play, then it should be play on. This would be far more common-sensical.

What do you think?

 

[ant]

See Frodo, this is a quality football related topic, just so you know what one looks like in the future.

 

[ptw]

I agree Dan....I think that would add something....

I think I can answer the point post bit...

Originally they were used simply to mark the corners of the field. If you drew a line between them you can say that the ball has gone "behind" the line - hence the term (the field would have looked like a rugby field does now I suppose). Therefore they were smaller as they were not posts at all rather corner flags or something like that. Only later on were "behinds" recorded, then they were set at the standard distance from the goal post, and later still counted in the overall score (too many draws).

I agree - somewhat strage nowdays though.

ptw

[This message has been edited by ptw (edited 05 February 2001).]

 

[Pessimistic]

I think it's great how AFL fans are not segregated from each other at the games. But I would bring in a rule where Essendon supporters have to be segregated...

 

[Pessimistic]

And there's one for Dan24 - he could suggest that a corner in soccer constitutes a score - there would never be a draw again !

 

[Mr Ripper]

Bouncing the footy, the posts, handballing; all unique facets of the Australian game and should be retained as is.

 

[Asgardian]

We should retain the facets of our game that make it unique

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Chris

(Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus)

 

[ptw]

I was not actually advocating doing away with bouncing the ball...more just thinking why it was there in the first place and what purpose it serves.

I do not hold the same view however as you Mr Ripper and Asgardian. Bouncing the ball is not unique to our game...rules regarding goals and points, the size of the field, the size of the goals are changed quite regularly.

When the VFA did change the rules (eg throwing) it was quite a success...attendances went up considerably. Most of the initiatives used in the VFL came from the VFA (interchange, out of bounds on the full ). There used to be a rule which said that you could not pick the ball up if it was on the ground...to prevent pile ups...this too would have been a unique part of our game...does anyone notice it has gone...does anyone want it back ?

I would support any change which I thought would make the game a better game to play and watch...even if this diminished the "uniqueness" of the sport.

ptw


[This message has been edited by ptw (edited 05 February 2001).]

 

[Frodo]

I think that bouncing the ball adds to the skill requirements. It is not easy to bounce an oval shaped ball whilst on the run.

The size of the goal posts is probably to do with the vision of a player for snap goals etc, If all posts were the same size a quick glance would not distinguish the goal posts from the behind posts.


When seeing this thread I wrongly assumed it was to do with umpires bounce ups, an area of a lot of inconsistancy. I would prefer them to always have a throw up, as they do when the ground is boggy.

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I would neve have believed it possible for one human to say to another 'get cancer and die'. I do now.

Sandie...you are a sick person.

 

[Darky]

If the bounce was done away with, it would be a faster game and there would be more running. There would be less skill in actually playing the game, and more emphasis on just running. If I wanted to watch running, I'd go see athletics, not footy.

 

[Jethro Q Walrustitty]

Great point, Darky.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Maybe we could take out bouncing and just run as fast as we can, if somebody is fast enough to catch us we could have our teammates block the tacklers for us or we could throw the ball forty metres down field. Whoever catches the ball need not kick it through the goals, merely break the plane of the goal line. We could have only two posts and convert an extra point through them.

One of the best things about our game is that the players do not have to be of a certain size and shape. There is a position for everybody. Taking out the evening-uppers would make our game more exclusive and take away a lot of support.

Reason enough to leave it alone if you ask me (and you did!).

 

[Mudholian]

Well another good post but you have answered you own question - bouncing was introduced to limit the running player at a time when the code was still evolving from it antecedents which were harrow, rugby and some argue the irish game, although all were technically codified after Will's first draft of the rules.
There are other so called unique features of our game which derive from these influences, notably the mark and the handball. This coupled with no offside, the movement from rectangular to oval playing field in the 1880's, and the use of the oval ball instead of the round ball, make Aussie-rules what it is today. Also the point posts were introduced relatively late in order to eliminate the defensive scrum, no score was recorded but there was a kick in.
MH

 

[Same Old's]

Originally posted by Mudholian:
Also the point posts were introduced relatively late in order to eliminate the defensive scrum, no score was recorded but there was a kick in.

Maybe the AFL should re-instate that rule?

 

[sandie]

frodo
I think you better check into Graylands real quick, you have major problems.

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I am Sandie suck up, vulgar & vile.

 

[magpie_joffa]

FOR GODS SAKE LEAVE THE GAME THE WAY IT IS,WHO REMEMBERS PHIL MANNASSA'S RUN IN THE 77 GRAND FINAL,WATCH IT AND THEN SEE IF YOU WANT THE BOUNCING OF THE BALL DROPPED'PARDON THE PUN'

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In'65 tension was running high at my high school,There was a lot of fights between the black and white,There was nothin you could do,Two cars at a light on a saturday night in the back seat there was a gun,words were passed in a shot gun blast,Troubled times had come to my hometown