Rule changes for 2014

[fabs33]

Maybe the new marking contest rule will favour Walker, he was never a high flyer but he's a beast in terms of strength.

 

[cmndstab]

You're kidding right? ......every supporter is continuously frustrated by the variance in umpire interpretations from within games & game to game.
The hands in the back, whether you liked it or not was black & white ....no interpretation

I disagree entirely. I'm not frustrated by the variance in umpire interpretations - I'm frustrated when umpire gets it wrong (or equally, is told to interpret the decision in a way that is contrary to the spirit of the game).

We can rule out variance entirely, but if that simply means that all decisions are equally terrible, that's even worse.

Yeah, people complain about variation in umpire interpretation, but that's mostly just people getting into the match and getting emotional. Screaming about umpires is part of the theatre of sport. That's in stark contrast to the complaints about the more recent "black and white" rules, which are more about detesting what the game has become, and often losing interest in the sport to some degree.

I'd much rather the rules be written to accommodate the spirit of the game, and the umpires be asked to interpret it appropriately, rather than trying to incorporate every possible situation into hard-and-fast rules. The latter was never going to work, as the last decade has conclusively proven.

 

[Slippery Pete]

You're kidding right? ......every supporter is continuously frustrated by the variance in umpire interpretations from within games & game to game.

Been that way for a hundred years. Will be that way for another hundred years. You want more consistent interpretations, get better umpires and get better umpiring coaches. Chopping and changing 100 year-old rules like we've seen in the past 15 years doesn't help.

The hands in the back, whether you liked it or not was black & white ....no interpretation

You're right - in fact it was so black and white that Scott Thompson was penalised for a finger nail in David Hale's back, because the umpire was adjudicating to the absolute letter of the law. Tell me why such black-and-whitedness is a good thing again?

And everyone wants the umpire to interpret what is excessive or not ?

Discretion is part of any job where you're enforcing laws, rules or regs. If you want to do away with discretion, then there's no need for humans. Robots will do.

You can have strength in a contest .....that's been there since day dot
But you're wrong that hands have ever been allowed in the back

Hands have been allowed in the back since Adam was a boy. Tony Modra would have kicked about 250 less goals if they weren't - he was the master of the subtle (or sometimes not-so-subtle) push-out in a one-on-one marking contest.

Back in those days umpires used their discretion as to whether the force was excessive. Occasionally they got it wrong, and that was the trade-off.

It was a far better situation than the Scott Thompson-like debacles we saw this year. Fans go to games to watch forwards take marks and kick goals. They don't go to watch full-backs get soft free kicks.

I will say the season hands in the back was black& white ....was the best season of high marking we've had for many many years.

Which season was that? You do realise the interpretation was relaxed early in the year - after the Thompson debacle. It was an admission that it wasn't working.

i for one prefer great high marking thanks

Another nothing statement.

The peak of high-marking excitement and forward prowess was during the 90s when no infringements were paid in marking contests unless they were absolutely flagrant.

 

[Brenton Davy]

Yeah they tried to keep him on using video links and other technology but in the end it was thought there needed to be that face-to-face contact that just couldn't occur from the nursing home.

Edit: no shit I just checked and he's not even 60, the man hasn't aged well.

Coaching Richmond will do that to a man. THey've sent many a youthful coach grey