The fear of keeping the game from slowing is ruining it for everyone.

[Vassp]

This mentally by the powers at AFL is killing our game, frustrating the supporters and players.

1) rules where punishments don’t fit the crime…
50 mtr penalties are being handed out like cotton candy at a carnival, most for the sake of speed and keeping the play flowing…it should flow naturally not by video game style power ups by the rules committee. these rules are cheapening the spirit of the game.
I’ll give you a very easy fix….if it doesn’t impact the play Dont pay 50. it’s very simple.

2)need a complete reworking of the rule book.
again AFL feels the need to step in to protect their rules and umpires……so they silence everyone like dictators running a third world country. That is how you’re acting ATM AFL, how you get your rules into check first so the umps can do their job.

3)when the player takes a mark he should be allowed to use the ball and not be rushed by the umps. Especially when he is going for goal. example…Balta going for goal ve the dees. See the way l see it is that should be fifty because he got tackles mideay through his running to shoot for goal. But that’s play on? Ump should not call player on unless the player is waiting time. Very simple and easy fix.

a could go on. But i think those two example show quite clearly how out of touch the AFL are.

ps. The game doesn’t need to be artificially sped up.
it needs rules that mostly everyone can make sense of and fit the play and spirit of the game .

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

The current book of rules is obsolete. It no longer pertains to way the game is being officiated these days. There are many rules that are completely ignored, and I dare say, have been completely forgotten about. I believe the game has suffered as a result.

The time has come for a committee to sit, throw out the existing rule book and start all over again. The 50 metre rule is an abomination and should only be used in extreme cases. Other than that, 25 metre penalties are sufficient for what they are paying it for.

I saw another incident yesterday for something that has bothered me for some time. With this propensity for a player to turn side on when kicking for goal, they don't kick over the mark, which is fine, and the moment they move off line, it should be called play on. Too many times I see players outside the boundary line, then move off the line while still out of bounds. The "rules" say it's play on, and because the player is still out of bounds, the ball should be thrown in by the boundary umpire. Just another example of a simple rule either being ignored or misinterpreted.

 

[hcd199]

I saw another incident yesterday for something that has bothered me for some time. With this propensity for a player to turn side on when kicking for goal, they don't kick over the mark, which is fine, and the moment they move off line, it should be called play on. Too many times I see players outside the boundary line, then move off the line while still out of bounds. The "rules" say it's play on, and because the player is still out of bounds, the ball should be thrown in by the boundary umpire. Just another example of a simple rule either being ignored or misinterpreted.

Not strictly the case; moving off the line is play on, but so long as the player moves in one direction, the ball is still in play even though they're physically out of bounds:

20.3.1 Bringing the Football Back Into Play
(a) A Player who is awarded a Mark or Free Kick and attempts to bring the football back into play or is called to play on from beyond the Boundary Line must bring the football back into play.
(b) If a Player breaches Law 20.3.1(a), including being tackled, the football shall be deemed Out of Bounds and a boundary throw-in shall result from the location of The Mark or Free Kick.
20.3.2 Moving in One Direction
(a) A Player who is awarded a Mark or Free Kick may bring the football back into play from outside the Playing Surface beyond the Boundary Line provided that the Player moves in one direction off the line of The Mark in the process of re-entering the Playing Surface.
(b) If a Player breaches Law 20.3.2(a), the football shall be deemed Out of Bounds and a boundary throw-in shall result.

There was definitely an incident in one game this week where a player clearly should've been called out of play, because they changed direction out of bounds (the umpires didn't pick it up but the commentators did), and that may be the occasion you're recalling, but otherwise the way this is officiated is largely correct as per the rulebook.

 

[BF Tiger]

I don’t get the need to speed things up and have high scores. Plenty of sports in the world are “slow” and have low scores.

Prime example is soccer (football). It’s only the most widely played game on the planet.