- Aug 22, 2014
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Exactly and given all that came about - Most wouldn't have wanted it any other way?
What a fillip it was for not just our club, but for the AFL as a whole.
* Interesting about your last point.
Did you look this up yourself, or has it been highlighted amongst the 27533 discussions the media have had on it, to date
It's been pointed out somewhere else, I'm sure, but I had a good look through the Laws of the Game on Monday and it stood out.
Oddly enough - it's not in the section on free kicks for "out of bounds on the full". That just states that the free kick will be taken at the point where the ball crossed the boundary line. The 2017 version has a separate note, specifically for late contact:
That section does not exist in the latest version.
As best I can tell, though, there is nothing in the rules that stipulates which player needs to take the free kick for an OOBOTF.
Makes you wonder if it should be treated the same way as a behind - just let the team taking the kick decide who is taking it, provided they're not wasting time bringing the full back down to have a snap for goal.
I should probably also note...there doesn't seem to be anything written into the rules about who takes free kicks in most cases. It does state in the "Intention" section that they want free kicks to be awarded to a player who executes a legal tackle that results in their opponent incorrectly disposing of the ball. But, for example, a marking infringement...there's nothing in writing that says the infringed player has to take the kick. It's all about a free kick being awarded against the infringing player.
I'm assuming it's just one of those "known" things, that never gets questioned and therefore never got put onto paper. But technically, if one wanted to challenge the rules as written, we would be within the rules to have McGovern taking set shots for anyone who has their arms chopped or is pushed in the back.
References:
- 2019 - https://resources.afl.com.au/afl/do...99ff625c/2019-Laws-of-Australian-Football.pdf
- 2017 - http://www.aflcommunityclub.com.au/...oach_AFL/2017_Laws_of_Australian_Football.pdf