Umpiring Out of Bounds

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lethalsax

Debutant
May 27, 2021
93
84
Jacksonville, FL USA
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
This is my third year watching footy now, and one thing I can’t seem to figure out is when a kick out of bounds is deemed a throw in/stoppage(?) or a change in possession/turnover.
For example, late in this Port/Dogs match, it looked to me as though Port clearly kicked it out of bounds so I would have thought it would have been Dogs’ ball, but it was a throw in instead.
Any help clarifying this would be appreciated!
 
Generally out of bounds is a throw in unless the umpire decides a player deliberately kicked it out of bounds, in which case it's a free kick. Umps in your example must have decided it wasn't on purpose
 
Just to clarify, its no longer deliberately kicked it out

rather, the player showed insufficient intent to keep it in play.

Leaves lots of room for interpretation so that we can all continue to bemoan the umpires.
 

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This is my third year watching footy now, and one thing I can’t seem to figure out is when a kick out of bounds is deemed a throw in/stoppage(?) or a change in possession/turnover.
For example, late in this Port/Dogs match, it looked to me as though Port clearly kicked it out of bounds so I would have thought it would have been Dogs’ ball, but it was a throw in instead.
Any help clarifying this would be appreciated!
It's a thing that players, supporters and umpires can't even agree on, so it's hard to provide any real clarity.
I'm assuming you know the obvious difference between out of bounds on the full (free kick to the other side) and normal out of bounds (throw in), and are specifically asking about deliberate/insufficient intent?

Basically, if you kick it down the field and it happens to go out, with no teammate within 5-10m of the ball and/or making a genuine effort to reach the ball and keep it in play, you are a strong chance of being called for insufficient intent and giving away a free, but not always. Sometimes an umpire might believe that the player was kicking in under immense pressure in heavy traffic and that it wasn't their intent to let it go out. Other times, that exact same scenario will be called deliberate.
Sometimes a player can just casually walk the ball over the line and it will be a throw in. Other times it will be called.
Obviously the shape of the ball comes into play too sometimes. You'll see a player kick it long down field, the ball looks like staying in, but takes a hard, sharp turn and goes out. Toss the coin mate! You might get away with it, you might not.

Sometimes a player will tap the ball towards the boundary when they actually have time and space to pick it up, and will get called for it. Other times a player will do the same, but disguise it as a fumbled attempt to gather the ball, and that's fine.

It's a lottery.
 
You need to do your best to keep it in. Anything less and it should be a free.

Which also doesn’t apply if you let the ball roll out to win a free from an opposition disposal?
 

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