I don’t know if its popular or unpopular, but deliberate out of bounds rule needs to be scrapped. Its the only rule where the umpire needs to know what a player is thinking. Ridiculous.
Plus the original reason it was brought in - time wasting- is no longer the case. When it was introduced the quarters were 25mins plus time-on but the clock didn’t stop when the ball went out of bounds. So it was time wasting, usually 30 seconds or so as the game clock kept running.
But when they switched to 20mins plus time on they also made the official game clock stop when it went out of bounds. So there is no time wasting anymore. Clock doesnt restart until ball back in play.
So just scrap it. Remove the greyish rule in the book.
If a player is perpendicular to the boundary and kicks it over the line, then I have no issue it. But players hacking the ball forward or even kicking for touch down the line should not be penalised. My argument has always been in those instances, the primary intent is to get the ball out of the immediate area. I actually miss players that could kick it forward and get it to roll out. And as a life long defender, I reckon it's only fair that the backs have this option. Forwards don't get penalised for shots on goal that roll out of bounds.