The New no “Punching” Rule

[AlwaysHawks15]

Well actually the AFL has received a lot of feedback that it does affect people's enjoyment of the game, that's why they're trying to stamp it out. I'm not talking about players, but spectators. Call those people soft and sooks if you like but that says more about you than anything. If the removal of an irrelevant and pointless part of the game (as you've just admitted) means it can be enjoyed by a lot more people then I'm all for it.

What kind of spectators? The actual football fan or the fair-weather "don't even know who's playing" fan because I can guarantee you no proper football fan thinks the new rule is good for the game. The AFL thinks that by speaking to a few lobbyists groups or Joe blows out on the street they represent the general consensus of the population. It's a crock of s**t and the fact you can't see that tells me more about your lack of understanding or your duped very easily.

 

[BEaston]

Haha "proper" football fans. AFL should employ you on the gates checking everyone's credentials.

 

[Zack]

There is a lot of anger about this but the rule doesn't exist. Simple as that OR the AFL have not administered the rule unless they deem it one of the clubs they need to stop.

A few umpires ****ed up and over officiated and the AFL is scrambling to cover there ass.

In all honesty have a go against the AFL but the umpires were ordered to do what they did and probably... well definitely had a bad one.
Plenty of teams have had bad ones also playing the game... it is what it is.

It's disappointing that a bloke earning Kamillions (a made up word) of dollars in Gillon doesn't give a s**t and I'll agree the sooner he goes the better as he's a waste of space looking for a bonus. But that's the AFL these days, do you, does anybody expect any different?

I'd like something different, but I have to accept the "special privileged school" people run Victoria and the AFL.

It's not great for either Victoria or the AFL but it is was it is... we can only say disappointed on sites like this and they will only ignore us once again.

It is was it is.

 

[JackOutback]

MMA doesn't change the rules every 2 seconds, you know what your getting when you either participate or watch it. No one is arguing about punches or jumper punches BTW its the fact that you can't push and shove anymore which has been part of the fabric of the game since it was born. The fact that your defending this rule says to me your not a real supporter or dismissing the history of the game. Go and watch touch football if you want to see a sport of your liking

Some heroic assumptions there.

I’m sure there’ll be some stupid decisions made in the initial crackdown but eventually the faux tough guys will cut it out and we can watch actual tough guys fight for the ball.

Now, if only we could officiate against faux tough guys on the internet.

 

[Jack Gun Cyril Stun]

That’s the thing, all well and good for the umpires to get these soft decisions ‘right’ BUT it’s an absolute lottery.
The issue maybe all the ones that aren’t paid.

Yep, easy for the AFL to say this decision or that decision is correct, technically 99% of free kicks are ...but now all of these types need to be paid, so we should see about 100 frees per game next week but we know we won’t.

 

[Jack Gun Cyril Stun]

Personally, I’d be happy to see the faux tough guy s**t go out of the game. It’s not tough or manly because it’s done in the knowledge the opponent can never retaliate fully. It’s a ‘safe’ fight. There’s a reason it’s called niggling, it’s childish immature behaviour that seeks to get a rise out of an opponent. There are far better ways to show your own bravery, like backing into a pack. There’s plenty of fair ways to impose yourself physically over an opponent, through bumps and tackles. Jumper punches and the like are pretty weak acts dressed up as tough.

And it’s the kind of niggling tummy taps and jumper punches that lead to the Gaff like incidents. If the AFL doesn’t want punches in the game, they pretty much have to take these little ones out of the game, otherwise you get inconsistent crap like weighing the supposed impact of each punch.

Which is why the fine for Cunnington was absolutely staggering...I have been an advocate of the AFL cleaning this crap up, but how you can punch a bloke 40m off the play and not get suspended is baffling.
Bump into someone awkwardly (Cox) and you get a week. Punch someone, nup the AFL are all good with that. What the actual F?

Absolute amateur hour.

Also Im fine with the Lycett, Sic and O’meara ones as long as they pay them all from here on. It should stamp it out.
But the fact about 200 of these were overlooked in round 1 is what shites me.

 

[XhazzafootyX]

The bulldog fans backing up the umpires is one of the more funnier things i’ve seen on big footy

 

[Jack Gun Cyril Stun]

The bulldog fans backing up the umpires is one of the more funnier things i’ve seen on big footy

Well they do need to validate the 2016 GF

 

[Sprout]

The Lycett free is correct. You can’t make contact in a ruck contest before the ball is thrown in....
Is that rule silly? Probably, but watch games a bit more, they don’t make contact until it’s thrown in.

They did an entire segment on 360 with neither Gerard or Robbo raising the possibility it could be a ruck infringement. Surely the most basic requirement to be in the media is to know the ******* rules. Apparently not.

 

[mick500]

What kind of spectators? The actual football fan or the fair-weather "don't even know who's playing" fan because I can guarantee you no proper football fan thinks the new rule is good for the game. The AFL thinks that by speaking to a few lobbyists groups or Joe blows out on the street they represent the general consensus of the population. It's a crock of s**t and the fact you can't see that tells me more about your lack of understanding or your duped very easily

I think the idea of stamping out excessive elbows to the back and niggling and holding the great players at stoppages to allow them to have a fair go at it and see them at their best is something every football fan wants.

But this rule doesn't address that. Like I said before, it's a rule that won't be implemented 99% of the time and they will pluck 1 free kick out of nowhere.

The afl had to come up with a simple yes or no rule that the umpires could work with. We are seeing the exact same rule adjudicated differently like the majority of rules in the afl.

 

[Paul Kersey]

Go watch MMA if you’re so turned on by violence. Punching people has never been within the rules. It’s a tough game, sure, but because of the bravery of backing into packs, tackles, shirt fronts, not fake tough guys pushing and jumper punching. John Worsfold is one of the toughest guys I’ve seen play, not because of his ‘superb’ jumper punches.

Rather be on the receiving end of one of Sicily's pushes then having my head over the ball and being cleaned up by Worsfold. He was a tough player but handed out a lot of cheap hits.

 

[footy75]

First of all, I personally would hate to be an umpire, it's a pretty hard job with lots of pressure from every angle, the pressure to make the right call at the right moment is huge but as umpires of the AFL and that is their role and they need to be able to handle that.
IMO umpires have to much game day influence on outcomes, AFL is a game of moments and these moments are important to players, fans and more important outcomes. I watched maybe half a dozen games on the weekend and golly gosh some of the decision making from the umpires was crazy bad from what I thought was a really good round 1, not sure exactly what they were told to crack down on but it seemed like everything and nothing all at the same time they seemed unsure, us as fans are unsure and I'm sure all clubs a frustrated.
all reporting offences that are not in the direct contest, not obvious and not directly in front of the umpire all seem to make there a way to MRO via video replay anyway so why does the AFL feel that umpires need to make these calls on game day now. An umpire shouldn't blow the whistle if they think they may have seen something they should blow the whistle if they do see something and a sure. our game is a fast-paced 360 directional game with many rules. leave the striking and rough conduct charges to the match review panel we have the technology with video reply lets use that to wipe out the bad stuff and let players play the game, for the "state of the game"
AFL brings in new rules for the "state of the game" I agree with the 6-6-6 and the no runner rules they're great to see and will be interesting to see how team tactics evolve from these new rules, but that said new interpretations of the no punch rule while intentions are good the AFL, MRO and umpires went far too far and have got this one wrong.

Would umpiring be that hard if they followed this simple mantra:

Let it go and only pay the obvious.

The decisions against Sicily, Omeara and Licett were an absolute disgrace, laughable and completely embarrassing to the game. You would have to have something wrong in your head to even think about paying them. A normal person would of ignored it or just said settle down fellas.

 

[Do the Dew]

Would umpiring be that hard if they followed this simple mantra:

Let it go and only pay the obvious.

The decisions against Sicily, Omeara and Licett were an absolute disgrace, laughable and completely embarrassing to the game. You would have to have something wrong in your head to even think about paying them. A normal person would of ignored it or just set settle down fellas.

Agreed. One thing that is consistent every season is the flavor of the week rules that occur throughout the H&A. Once we hit finals and especially the GF, the officiating is relaxed and we see far less bs decisions. Yes there are outliers (2016) but in general I'd say we all agree that umpiring during finals and GF is pretty damn good and players really have to earn free kicks. I'd prefer that sort of umpiring applied week to week rather than the farce last weekend


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[Topkent]

Agreed. One thing that is consistent every season is the flavor of the week rules that occur throughout the H&A. Once we hit finals and especially the GF, the officiating is relaxed and we see far less bs decisions. Yes there are outliers (2016) but in general I'd say we all agree that umpiring during finals and GF is pretty damn good and players really have to earn free kicks. I'd prefer that sort of umpiring applied week to week rather than the farce last weekend


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Yeah anyone who thinks more free kicks make a game better can * off. There's nothing worse as a neutral than watching a great passage of play develop only to be stopped by some pissant squeaky voiced umpire who wants to stamp his authority on the game

 

[Do the Dew]

Yeah anyone who thinks more free kicks make a game better can **** off. There's nothing worse as a neutral than watching a great passage of play develop only to be stopped by some pissant squeaky voiced umpire who wants to stamp his authority on the game

You talking bout my main man Razor


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[Tandy]

The game changes dramatically every 10 years, this might just be the death of Big home and away crowds.

 

[Holy Rioli]

The game changes dramatically every 10 years, this might just be the death of Big home and away crowds.

I'm voting with my wallet, I won't be spending money on anything that lines the corrupt pockets of the AFL for the foreseeable future. Foxtel cancelled yesterday.

 

[BEaston]

The bulldog fans backing up the umpires is one of the more funnier things i’ve seen on big footy

Haha, nothing compared to Hawks fans absolutely losing the plot about them after one bad game following many years of #freekickhawthorn.

The autopsy thread on your board is a certified gold mine.

 

[Holy Rioli]

Haha, nothing compared to Hawks fans absolutely losing the plot about them after one bad game following many years of #freekickhawthorn.

Not to mention we've received the fewest free kicks after 2 rounds this year as well and already sitting at -20.

#freekickthrowdogs

 

[Do the Dew]

View attachment 647155

Not to mention we've received the fewest free kicks after 2 rounds this year as well and already sitting at -20.

#freekickthrowdogs

Don't think 2018 shows the whole season fyi. Tigs finished -122 which is the worst on that chart.

 

[Leeda]

Gun metal gravel face plant...
Trouble in hawk town...oooh
Shutters are up...

 

[Smartest Brain]

Go watch MMA if you’re so turned on by violence. Punching people has never been within the rules. It’s a tough game, sure, but because of the bravery of backing into packs, tackles, shirt fronts, not fake tough guys pushing and jumper punching. John Worsfold is one of the toughest guys I’ve seen play, not because of his ‘superb’ jumper punches.

Again, Aussie rules was always violent. Now Nancy types like you want to change it. Stop. You have non violent sports to follow if the small amount of violence in the AFL keeps you up at night.

 

[JoondalupJ]

Seriously what the **** were they thinking with this?

I’m normally not one to complain about the game being soft but this rule is a genuine disgrace.





These decisions along with a host of others has made for a truly comical round of ridiculous decisions.

Free kicks should absolutely be paid when someone genuinely punches someone hard with force. But these instances of pushing, shoving and punching where the players aren’t reacting in any sort of pain should be play on. It’s a contact sport for ****s sake. Blokes are out there playing hard and things will get heated at time.

What a joke.

Fortunately now the "no punch " rule has opened up a can of worms for the AFL.

In fact there are many grey rules misunderstood or rules that are simply not needed at all, that take the competition out of the game, and make umpires the centre of attention.

Because free kick scoring is now almost basketball foul scoring, IT IS NOT FOOTBALL. AND IT HAPPENS TOO OFTEN!

I've been reading some newspapers and social media around the country and I tell you I am glad to see others really making points about the state of OUR football now.

Even some commentators have taken up the rules points.

 

[Hawkie_McHawkHawk]

Haha, nothing compared to Hawks fans absolutely losing the plot about them after one bad game following many years of #freekickhawthorn.

The autopsy thread on your board is a certified gold mine.

4 flags in 8 years, kiss the rings b*tch.
One piddly flag for your tiny club and its tainted by cheating umps.

 

[JackOutback]

Again, Aussie rules was always violent. Now Nancy types like you want to change it. Stop. You have non violent sports to follow if the small amount of violence in the AFL keeps you up at night.

This post carries about the same manliness as Sicily.

I'm not particularly interested if they crack down on these pushes or jumper punches, but neither am I throwing my toys out of the pram like some fundamental aspect of the game is being lost. That's not the toughness that made people appreciate Aussie rules. I don't watch the Sicily decision and think, 'bloody umpires, preventing me from watching Sicily's display of manliness and bravery'. Sicily just looks like a faux tough guy, which is backed up by his whining, petulant response.