The identify-the-ruck is necessary because otherwise players don’t know who they can and can’t stand in front of around the stoppage. Imagine we have 2MP and Goldstein i50, the ump balls it up with no inditification of who the ruck is, an oppo player stands in front of 2MP thinking Goldstein is the ruck… Goldstein sees this and deliberately doesn’t compete, and suddenly 2MP is calling for a free because an oppo player stood in front of him stopping him from contesting the ruck. If 3rd man up was allowed it wouldn’t be a problem though. By bringing in the 3rd man up rule they necessitated the identification of the ruck.
I agree with this. Umps expect players to somehow stop on a dime avoid “late” contact when they’re mid air with momentum in a marking contest before a mark has even been paid, and it’s a problem. Similarly, a tackling player is expected to know when the ball carrier no longer has possession of the ball (legitimate disposal or otherwise) and immediately stop making any sort of contact with the tackled player, despite the tackler not being able to see that the ex-ball carrier is no longer in possession of the ball, and despite the momentum of the tackle meaning both players are going to ground even if the tackler lets go, contact (and the free for htm) remains inevitable. This is exacerbated by the ball carrier learning to hold on to the tackler (and hit their own head on the ground) to try to milk a free kick.
Re the interpretation of “reasonable time” last night: I liked it (and not just because Curnow was finally being pinged for htb.) I still think it has a way to go though.
The problem with the umps using the “spun 360” metric for determining “reasonable time” (which seemed to be what they were doing a couple of times last night) is that it encourages tacklers to rotate the ball carrier in the tackle, which is more likely to lead to a slinging motion.
It’s also unclear what happens when a player is spun slowly or very quickly. Getting spun very quickly = a very short time to initiate the disposal, if they’re going with the 360 metric. Getting spun slowly could mean a long time to initiate disposal. Getting spun very quickly but allowing a certain amount of time could mean getting spun 720 or even more before being required to initiate the disposal. I suppose it’s up to what the ump thinks is “reasonable,” but as always that will lead to frustrating inconsistancies.
The requirement to initiate the disposal quickly can go too far though. If the ball carrier knows they’re going to be rushed to initiate a disposal in a contested situation and think it’ll be difficult to find a not-under-pressure teammate, they’re less likely to pick up the ball in the first place. Much easier to play the odds and let the oppo pick it up and then tackle them. That way as the tackler you have a chance to benefit from a rushed, less-than-ideal disposal from the oppo ball carrier, or a ball up, or being given a free kick. Compare that to the options the ball carrier has: a less that ideal disposal to a teammate under pressure\space\the opposition, or the boundary (which could result in a free kick,) or a stoppage, or giving away the free kick.
Still a way to go, but I think last night was a step in the right direction.
Maggots” thread.