Interference in marking

[cleomenes]

On Sunday I was at the North Melbourne v West Coast game. I had the pleasure of watching McGovern's defensive work as he played the ball and almost always won, barring a few occasions when Daw got a good run at and marked.
I also watched with disgust as Brown was scragged, held, pushed and punched, and shepherded off the ball by Schofield. You could see it as one doing the dirty work for the other I suppose.
I support neither of these teams, but the willingness of the AFL to allow players to be kept from contesting marks is removing one of the great spectacles of the game. Howe from my team got concussed in the follow through from such interference solely designed to stopp him from getting to the ball.
The rules already forbid this in several ways, notably a provision that a ball must be within 5 metres for a shepherd to be legal. Nearly all of the work to keep players out of marking contests happens with the ball much further away than that.
A small tug at a jumper (illegal) gets penalized most of the time. A full blooded bump of a player running, eyes and hands high, to jump at the ball (also illegal) gets umpires attention only rarely. And that inconsistency is itself a problem. The few frees paid seem to come out of the blue, with nobody able to work out why one was paid but a dozen ignored.
Some defenders seem to have a licence scrag, while others have to be very circumspect. In my view, Schofield got away with murder this week, as Rance does for Richmond most weeks.

 

[Wallaby]

Look - it happens in reverse. Check out the AFL.com highlights in the Richmond Collingwood game. About 5.35 in - Start of last Qtr .

Edwards has the ball, but watch Riewoldt and Moore. Riewoldt leads one way - Townsend blocks Moore to free up Riewoldt. Edwards doesn't kick to the lead, but then lobs to the top of the goalsquare. Riewoldt now has a run in to the pack mark, with Moore chasing. Townsend gives Moore another block - just enough to stop him reaching the contest. Townsend makes no effort to try and mark the ball, or make a lead.


I picked on my own team to avoid the accusations of bias etc - but every side does it - both forwards and backs. Next time you see a forward take an easy chest mark 30 out, look at the replay and there's a good chance you will see a set play involving dummy leads and 'accidental' collisions on the defender. Watch midfields at ruck stoppages. It happens in soccer at corners - it happens in NFL with wide receivers. In basketball they basically gave up adjudicating it and changed the rules many years ago to allow 'boxing out' at rebounds.

All you can do is push the limits of what the umpire will tolerate - sometimes it goes your way, sometimes not. There has to be some physical contest in a sport where contact is allowed. And, oh sh!t, do we get upset when the ump actually plucks one out!

 

[powerrrrrrrrrrrr]

Charlie Dixon is one from port who regularly gets held at just about every contest and rarely gets a free depending on who he is playing on. Saw last week against the dogs and the weaker/younger defenders that the umpires were more willing to award the frees for being held. However, this is completely reversed when he is competing against some of the 'best' defenders in the league. It seems due to his size and strength, the umpires see no issue in having 2 or 3 defenders hanging off him or chopping the arms and it goes uncalled. Compared to other forwards who simply get sneezed on and are awarded free after free.

 

[FastLane]

Charlie Dixon is one from port who regularly gets held at just about every contest and rarely gets a free depending on who he is playing on. Saw last week against the dogs and the weaker/younger defenders that the umpires were more willing to award the frees for being held. However, this is completely reversed when he is competing against some of the 'best' defenders in the league. It seems due to his size and strength, the umpires see no issue in having 2 or 3 defenders hanging off him or chopping the arms and it goes uncalled. Compared to other forwards who simply get sneezed on and are awarded free after free.

True- Happened with Pav- also noticed Jono Brown, Tom Hawkins and Travis Cloke- it seems the bigger the bloke- the less likely he will get a free.
They are all so strong that they stand their ground, despite being mauled and having players hang off them.
Buddy and Jack Reiwoldt seem to get these types of frees more often- lighter players- also both dont mind making it look worse than it is.
Funnily enough, I reckon Sydney and Richmond backmen are the worst offenders at blocking, scragging and holding

 

[markr]

Look - it happens in reverse. Check out the AFL.com highlights in the Richmond Collingwood game. About 5.35 in - Start of last Qtr

An eminently sensible reply. I hate how in a typical kick to a key forward, his opponent will lock him up, then a loose defender will drop in front and take an uncontested mark. The defender makes it look like both players are wrestling, but it's purely to hold the forward out of the contest. BUT, every team does it (including the Hawks) and it would be bloody tough to umpire if they tried. You pretty much just have to accept that it's part of the game.

 

[cleomenes]

An eminently sensible reply. I hate how in a typical kick to a key forward, his opponent will lock him up, then a loose defender will drop in front and take an uncontested mark. The defender makes it look like both players are wrestling, but it's purely to hold the forward out of the contest. BUT, every team does it (including the Hawks) and it would be bloody tough to umpire if they tried. You pretty much just have to accept that it's part of the game.

Nearly every comment on this thread describes accurately what happens. As one poster said, it happens in all aspects of the game, but it's most obvious with the forwards because we focus our hopes for a score on them.
The consensus seems to be that we just have to live with it, even though most of us hate it when it happens to our players. We look the other way when our players do it, partially because we are looking for the bloke going for the ball from our side and miss the one(s) that isn't (aren't). I don't think we should accept it. It is against the rules after all, and there are plenty of umpires out there who know what is what, and can make judgements on this if they are told to. The coaches would be unanimous in their screams, but they are not important. The players who provide the show and the spectators who pay for it are the ones that count.
Remove this blight that so hampers marking, and pay holding the ball as soon as a player is tackled and does not dispose of the ball correctly and not after he has had 5 minutes to decide where he is going to pass it or if he is going to hold it in, and the game will look a mile better. The rules exist and don't need changing, just enforcing.

 

[telsor]

True- Happened with Pav- also noticed Jono Brown, Tom Hawkins and Travis Cloke- it seems the bigger the bloke- the less likely he will get a free.
They are all so strong that they stand their ground, despite being mauled and having players hang off them.
Buddy and Jack Reiwoldt seem to get these types of frees more often- lighter players- also both dont mind making it look worse than it is.
Funnily enough, I reckon Sydney and Richmond backmen are the worst offenders at blocking, scragging and holding

If Jack's getting frees so much more often that it's noteworthy as a key forward, then the others mustn't be getting any. He gets ~1/game, and more often than not, that's when he's playing up the ground.

 

[Mitchell54]

I like how the defenders can stop the forward from getting a clear run at the ball. Although if they bump them in their stride then it should get called (which it is most of the time).

I think its fine how it is.

The AFL is always restricting which strategies can be implemented and i think they should allow for coaches creating their own style to play the game. I don't mind them being between the ball and the player which is what is taught.

 

[Crankitup]

All you can do is push the limits of what the umpire will tolerate - sometimes it goes your way, sometimes not. There has to be some physical contest in a sport where contact is allowed. And, oh sh!t, do we get upset when the ump actually plucks one out!

You can say that again.