Last touch rule

Jul 2, 2008
1,988
2,266
Perth
AFL Club
Adelaide
Why the AFL won't introduce this rule from the SANFL is beyond me. The deliberate out of bounds is now to the point that it's almost a last touch anyway. The only difference is that the AFL apply the deliberate rule such that if you are defending and the ball is kicked and rolls over the boundary it's deliberate, but when you are moving it forward it's a throw in!!!

So for those unaware, between the 50 arcs in the SANFL they apply a last touch rule for any ball that is kicked or handballed and it goes over the line. Speeds up the game much better than the "interpretation" currently applied in the AFL.

Why this hasn't been applied is confusing to me.
 

ManInWhite

Ex ManInWhite
Apr 6, 2009
918
421
AFL Club
Richmond
Last possession makes more sense than last touch though. Ball could be bouncing near the line and a player dives doing his best to keep it in. Brushes his fingers and goes over the line. You don’t want to penalise the 1 guy trying to keep it in.
 
Jul 2, 2008
1,988
2,266
Perth
AFL Club
Adelaide
Last possession makes more sense than last touch though. Ball could be bouncing near the line and a player dives doing his best to keep it in. Brushes his fingers and goes over the line. You don’t want to penalise the 1 guy trying to keep it in.
That's just how it works in the SANFL, it's called last touch but in reality it's last possession if it's not touched before the boundary. If it's touched/fumbled over the line it's a throw in.
 

ManInWhite

Ex ManInWhite
Apr 6, 2009
918
421
AFL Club
Richmond
You also have to have a rule about not obstructing a player trying to keep the ball in.

e.g. If a player for Team A kicks the ball and it's likely that the ball will roll over the line (resulting in a free kick to Team B), you don't want the situation where a player from Team B obstructs a player from Team A trying to get to the ball and keeping it in. That would be a very cheap free kick and not in the spirit of the game.
 
Seen some shockers this year, both paid and unpaid.

Kicking the ball inside fifty to a teammate's advantage that then arcs and rolls over the boundary = insufficient intent.
Dribbling the ball forward to keep control or avoid a tackle = insufficient intent.
Walking the ball over or handballing out of tackle = play on.
Deliberately crossing the line while being tackled = play on.

Remove the gray area and ambiguitiy of umpire interpretation - last touch seems a sensible way to do this.
 
Would like to see an extra boundary ump on each wing, an allowance for them to come off the line so the throw is more central, and less time given to the rucks to set up. Would save plenty of time whilst not fundamentally altering a key part of the game.
 

SonofSamsquanch

Enjoy decent coffee but don't dunk yer biscuits
Mar 31, 2016
19,250
44,949
Victoria
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Seen some shockers this year, both paid and unpaid.

Kicking the ball inside fifty to a teammate's advantage that then arcs and rolls over the boundary = insufficient intent.
Dribbling the ball forward to keep control or avoid a tackle = insufficient intent.
Walking the ball over or handballing out of tackle = play on.
Deliberately crossing the line while being tackled = play on.

Remove the gray area and ambiguitiy of umpire interpretation - last touch seems a sensible way to do this.
Or better yet, eliminate the deliberate OOB rule and let the boundary umpires just throw it in. The game has been messed around with so much it's becoming a farce. Stop pandering to the TV advertising $$$s and just letfootball be football.

Out on the full - I'm OK with that but there might be older supporters than me who'd prefer that to be a throw in as well.

If a player is able to walk the ball over the line when under the barest minimum pof pressure, then nobody should be penalised for roosting it out of the backline towards the defensive boundary only to be penalised by the ball rolling over the line. We know these rules are only there to satisfy TV rights holders.
 
Or better yet, eliminate the deliberate OOB rule and let the boundary umpires just throw it in. The game has been messed around with so much it's becoming a farce. Stop pandering to the TV advertising $$$s and just letfootball be football.

Out on the full - I'm OK with that but there might be older supporters than me who'd prefer that to be a throw in as well.

If a player is able to walk the ball over the line when under the barest minimum pof pressure, then nobody should be penalised for roosting it out of the backline towards the defensive boundary only to be penalised by the ball rolling over the line. We know these rules are only there to satisfy TV rights holders.

Noticed this as well on the weekend - kicks for territory that happened to bounce out were pinged, but if a player had the ball near the boundary they just dive over it like they're rushing a behind in the goal square and that's OK. AFL says they're all about fast, free-flowing footy but this just goes right in the face of that.
 

churner

Debutant
Jun 8, 2010
74
38
AFL Club
Collingwood
Or better yet, eliminate the deliberate OOB rule and let the boundary umpires just throw it in. The game has been messed around with so much it's becoming a farce. Stop pandering to the TV advertising $$$s and just letfootball be football.

Out on the full - I'm OK with that but there might be older supporters than me who'd prefer that to be a throw in as well.

If a player is able to walk the ball over the line when under the barest minimum pof pressure, then nobody should be penalised for roosting it out of the backline towards the defensive boundary only to be penalised by the ball rolling over the line. We know these rules are only there to satisfy TV rights holders.
Deliberate out of bounds is much, much older than out on the full. It's almost as old as the game itself. Unless you're talking about the ordinary insufficient intent rule which definitely needs changing.
 
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