Opinion Non-Crows AFL 4: The Centre Cannot Hold

[Iron]

Probably missed the discussion now but the game is under attack with this 50 for arm waving nonsense.

How much further can we push players into not giving a **** about anything. Very little team loyalty left, and very little actual emotion allowed on the field now too.

Paddy was ahead of the curve when he made his infamous just a hobby comments. Welcome to 2022 i guess.

Imo players should be told to congratulate the umpire in an inappropriately OTT manner whenever they win a free, as a form of protest.

 

[Iron]

He’ll be the bald one.

All players to shave their heads and wear a fake moustache.

Even the women.

 

[footy4ever]

Jesus. Reckon we're in trouble here, but like most teams I guess.

What about paying a free for flapping your arms like a seagull, screaming at the umps for a free? I'd like to see that. Port would have 20 50's given against every match.

 

[arrowman]

Frost just isn't allowed to do that full stop. Either body Hawkins and go for the ball yourself or at least pretend like you are.

Oh, I agree - sort of. I mean, it's clear that Frost was looking to block Hawkins one way or another, but it never got to the point where Frost was forced into the decision to genuinely join the contest (or risk having a free kick paid for blocking). IMO there was never an actual "block", just a hand going out to judge relative positions.

I think he might have contested had Hawkins not disappeared out of sight, no need to contest if your own player is contesting and your opponent isn’t body to body anymore.

Ah, but Hawkins only disappeared because Frost violently pushed him out of the contest.

In my opinion staging should cancel the free kick even if it is there, or even further should result in a free kick the other way.

If a player is staging, they should be a free kick against and a 50m penalty, plus mandatory $5k fine.

That would apply to any player who exaggerates any contact, so a small jumper pull while you are running, if you throw your arms back, your head back if you are caught high, jump forwards from a push in the back, or dive forward when you are tackled taking the player with you.

I think staging should be cause for the umpire to say "sorry mate, you're making it hard to pay a free kick when you do that" (as they have done in the past). I don't think they should start paying free kicks the other way. Let the MRP deal with it. There are enough challenges for umpires to make judgement calls as it is - judging that contact was exaggerated is one thing, actually paying a free kick... I wouldn't want to be an umpire in that situation.

 

[dani_giuls]

50 metres.....raised eyebrow!

Or unshaved sideburns

 

[Bay62]

Would be ANZAC day. Anything else would have leaked.

On SM-N981B using BigFooty.com mobile app

Trying to talk it up and stem the bleeding of fans not turning up

 

[footy4ever]

I reckon there are nine target areas for addressing the rules:

1) Remove or change the ruling around the ball being knocked out in tackles, and players needing to "attempt" disposals. Either you do or don't dispose it properly. Clean up "prior" as well

2) Increase strictness of holding the man. Any holding off the ball, even a slight touch, should be a free against. Would open up the game and make it less like a lotto when a hold is paid

3) Introduce last touch out of bounds to remove the umpires needing to determine whether a player meant to keep the ball in or not

4) Remove bouncing the ball so umpires don't need to learn this skill and can focus on positioning and getting decisions correct

5) Revert the push in the back rule to a more simple hands in the back which is easier to adjudicate

6) Remove the ruck nomination rule and just throw the ball up as quickly as possible to reduce congestion. Would make the game freer and easier to adjudicate due to fewer packs

7) Have a dedicated media spokesperson from the umpiring department who can be contacted during the game to explain decisions and educate the public on the rules. Sometimes even the commentators don't actually know the rules

8) Pay high frees for ducks because it's easier to adjudicate (any high free is paid) but then suspend players that duck via the match review panel. I don't mean fine, I mean minimum one week suspension. Staging should also be heavily punished. Fooling the umpires is not on.

9) Once the rule review is complete, lock the rules for 5 years.

5) The decision to remove the hands in the back rule was the second worse decision the Rules committee have ever made.

It was clear cut. No need to adjudicate whether there was sufficient force to be ruled a push. I loved it.



As for that ****ing STAND rule - the worst rule introduction. Jesus. Look what the game has become.

 

[FR0GGY]

Brad Scott really clearing things up.
Still up to the umpires to work out what dissent is.

 

[arrowman]

yeah that phrase really should be consigned to history. I don't think many people really know what it means.

What it "really means" is it's a term for using plain language without unnecessary embellishment - as in calling a spade a spade, and not a gardening implement.

It has never been a racist thing. Yes, the word "spade" has been used as a racist term, but the phrase "calling a spade a spade" predates that by a long way.

I accept that in the US at least, it may be problematic to use that phrase these days, just as Coon Cheese is no longer named after its creator, but let that not be based on a misunderstanding that it was ever actually a racist phrase.

 

[Bay62]

Kane getting stuck into Essendon with “You have started the season in about as bad shape as you can start”

But Port - who have started the season in worse shape - gets “They owe everything to Ken…there’s no one better..who else would they get..not the coaches fault..”

He is just all hot air

 

[Slippery Pete]

Probably missed the discussion now but the game is under attack with this 50 for arm waving nonsense.

How much further can we push players into not giving a fu** about anything. Very little team loyalty left, and very little actual emotion allowed on the field now too.

Paddy was ahead of the curve when he made his infamous just a hobby comments. Welcome to 2022 i guess.

Imo players should be told to congratulate the umpire in an inappropriately OTT manner whenever they win a free, as a form of protest.

I agree except for the “we” part.

The AFL players have a union. It’s about time they ****ing stood up for themselves. And the game, quite frankly.

 

[FR0GGY]

Would love fans to just not turn up one round.

 

[Crow till I die]

Kane getting stuck into Essendon with “You have started the season in about as bad shape as you can start”

But Port - who have started the season in worse shape - gets “They owe everything to Ken…there’s no one better..who else would they get..not the coaches fault..”

He is just all hot air

And you are worried by this..why? Don't we all want the media to keep pumping up Ken's tyres so he does not get the sack

 

[Slippery Pete]

He’ll be the bald one.

That could be McBurney or McLaren!

 

[Slippery Pete]

Would love fans to just not turn up one round.

Some already taking that route, if crowd numbers this year are anything to go by.

 

[Twist_of_Lemon]

‘Just put 18 robots out there’: AFL 360 hosts debate umpire dissent interpretation

‘Put robots out there’: TV hosts’ robust clash amid fears footy has been ‘stripped of personality’

www.foxsports.com.au

Really worth a watch.

Unless I'm misremembering, wasn't Robbo one of many itching to crucify David Mackay's play for not having the reaction time of a robot to avoid hurting the St Kilda player?

 

[arrowman]

And you are worried by this..why? Don't we all want the media to keep pumping up Ken's tyres so he does not get the sack

I fear we may be beyond that point. It's well beyond tyre-pumping, and only a question of "when". Of course, we can still hold out hope that there's no finals trigger in the contract, and they're stuck with him (or a payout) for 2023.

 

[FR0GGY]

Is this dissent Brad?

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Is this dissent Brad?
View attachment 1378067

What about in the good old days?

 

[Slippery Pete]

What about in the good old days?

View attachment 1378074

This is worth elaborating on.

The issue at stake here is that umpires at junior and amateur levels of footy are subjected to some of the most shameful abuse. And that is a fact that can’t be dismissed or diminished.

No youngster umpiring at junior level should be subjected to abuse.

But the problem won’t be solved with farcical solutions at the professional level, no more than it could’ve been in the bow and arrow days when BT was waving fists in their faces.

This is something that can only be solved at the grassroots and community level by adults with intellectual capacity, not with a ****ing nanny-state top-down edict from w***ers in the AFL.

 

[radiojake]

While it's a shocking look when you see in many soccer leagues around the world the players becoming physically demonstrative when referees make calls they don't like, and I've always been glad Aussie rules has never been that bad and I can understand why they want to remove any chance of that coming into the game, common sense suggests they are going about it in a totally backwards and stupid way

 

[Redline]

Brad Scott really clearing things up.
Still up to the umpires to work out what dissent is.

The AFL ticks everything off when it suits them. What a rediculous thing to come out and say. Does that mean every umpire in the history of the game has interpreted the rule wrong?

The stupid thing is in a few months you will be able to do whatever you like and get away with it given how they chop and change the rules and interpretation.

They need to go back to basics with the rules and umpires. They have created something that is broken. A bit like all their list management / recruiting rules that constantly change to keep people in jobs.

 

[Slippery Pete]

While it's a shocking look when you see in many soccer leagues around the world the players becoming physically demonstrative when referees make calls they don't like, and I've always been glad Aussie rules has never been that bad and I can understand why they want to remove any chance of that coming into the game, common sense suggests they are going about it in a totally backwards and stupid way

One of the reasons it very rarely resorts to violence here is because we have that outlet of physical demonstration and vocal expression.

You call the umpire a w***er, you wave your arms like a dick (thanks Nathan Bassett) then you move on with your life. No harm no foul. After the game you might even have a beer with the bastard and all is forgiven (mostly).

That’s Australian culture.

Australian culture is not to crush any and all dissent and expression… when you do that, pent-up frustration that leads to violence is more likely to be the eventual outcome.

 

[CrowsB4hoes]

Would love fans to just not turn up one round.

Port fans are way ahead of you

 

[CrowsB4hoes]

Brad Scott's comments show how inept he is.

So the umpires got all those 50m decisions 100% correct.

Except for the ones they didn't pay.

Which were at least as many as the ones they did.

So success rate less than 50%.