- May 15, 2017
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- Dusty
That is utterly laughable that footage. The man in possession runs off his mark, taking about 5 paces off the line before the man on the mark moves past his allowable distance. The ump does not respond by calling play on, which is a complete error surely, and when the man on the mark adjusts so the man in possession can’t run straight past him the ump pings him 50m.
This rule is two things.
1. it is a total contrived technical mess, that will blight the game more than it could ever possibly improve it as a spectacle, and
2. it seems to be designed precisely in a way that would benefit a high volume marking, high free kick for team like Geelong against a low marking, high free kick against team like Richmond. And it has been brought in by a person who has only ever had one club affiliation, and it was a long one. That affiliation was with Geelong.
Governance wise, it is a shocking conflict of interest issue at the very least. The worst case scenario is it is the result of the Cats conspiring with Hocking to get the rules changed to favour them and specifically counter their nemesis, the Tigers.
Teams who want to be able to move the ball forward should look no further than the best team at it, the Tigers, who play on, run and forward handball and don’t play like they are petrified of losing possession.
It looks diabolical this new rule. If umpires don’t immediately call play on as soon as the player in possession steps to the side of his mark it contrives a situation completely in favour of the team in possession. If umpires do call play on immediately the player steps he may already have too big a break before the man on the mark has had time to react to the call of "play on." The rule came out of nowhere. It is a whiteboard rule. that is a sh*t way to introduce new rules regarding the flow of play. The greatest beauty of the game of Australian Rules Football, is it was not a game that was designed as such, it evolved organically by being played.
What. A. Mess.
can't wait for more scores from 50m penalties, after all that's everyone's favourite part of AFL footy right