The current rule is that being in the ruck contest is prior. You have zero time, if you don’t get rid of it, it’s holding the ball. I assume it’s precisely because a very tall ruckman could force a lot of consecutive stoppages by just taking the ball and going to ground.
These clowns are ruining the game.
Honestly. They make a rule, then Change it back 3 years later.
There absolutely no reason to change the whole hands in the back rule, it’s one of the only black or white rules that the umpire can make.
But no, the rules need to be every shade of grey so there is no right or wrong. The AFL wants every rule to be objective, so the umpires can’t be called out for making wrong decisions.
The rules are only changed every year because the AFL think they need gimmicks to sell ratings.
Sounds like it might encourage more of it to me, … to try and convince the Ump there’s been a double movement, … as it did when it was the rule , … back before they changed it, … before changing it back to being what they changed it from, … I think, … I’m getting a bit dizzy now, … time for a Bex and a lie down I think, …
What will this do for stats? If a player decides to kick it but steps just over the line does it count as a play on and therefore a possession for the player?
A player worried about his stats might just do this for every kick in.
To be honest, you’d think it’s fairly likely the player kicking in will overstep the line nearly every time seeing as they’ve moved the man on the “mark” back a further 5 metres. This seems to be the AFL’s way of introducing a bigger goal square without introducing a bigger goal square.
I reckon first possession from the kickout shouldn’t count as a stat now regardless of whether the player plays on or not.
Edit: I actually don’t mind this change. It gives teams a bit more space/freedom for the kickout so should encourage more attacking play. But just remove the stat for it!
The getting rid of kicking to yourself has come out of nowhere. I guess the goal square still serves a purpose in that you can’t be called to play on until you are out of it. I’m curious to know what the protected area to the sides will be though
One suspects the talk of 18m goal squares was always a hey look over here rule designed just to distract everyone with relief when they didn’t bring it in.
I look forward to key forwards starting as back pockets while back pockets start on the wing and drop straight into the d 50 in the dying moments of close games
Does forwards diving:
a) decrease because hands in the back is allowed
b) increase because hands are allowed but if you can make it look like a push it’s a free
Dunno what the complaint is, it was a garbage rule that was rarely enforced (except at critical moments against us hurhur). Scrapping the rule is a great move.