Likes:
Somehow my mob is 2 games clear despite dishing up a hell of a lot of ordinary through the year.
Dislikes:
Deliberate (out of bounds). I dont see why the game 'needs' the ball consistently moving. If a bloke is under pressure in the backline and mongrels a ball 40m forward to get a throw in that is good play in my book. Only the blatantly obvious (eg player bee-lines for the boundary) should be paid. The boundary throw in is another unique part of our game which we seem hell bent on getting rid of.
Deliberate (points)- Are we the only code that penalises a team scoring for the opposition? If we wish to 'stop' it, maybe increase the score of a deliberately rushed point. We seem to simply be penalising teams who are able to better able to kick in from full back.
Holding the ball (where the bloke on the bottom 'drags it in'). Been a bug bear of mine for a while now. If 3 or more blokes stack on it should automatically be a ball up (if they are all from the same team then they should get pinged for time wasting
). If someone drags it in then the opposition need to simply hold the guernsey and stand above (remember when players used to do that). This will force yet enable the player with ball to dispose or get pinged.
50m penalty. Way too harsh for minor infringements. Bring in the SANFL 25.
Thursday night football- destroys footy tips, fantasy football and kids sleeping patterns. Piss it off.
Bye before finals- piss it off. Stupid.
3 'bye' weeks. Piss it off. Have 5 games one week and 4 the next half way through. Easy.
Rookie lists etc- piss them off. Have a squad of 45-50. All eligible to play at any time.
Centre bounce- piss it off. Love the Romanticism of the big centre bounce but as so few umpires can do it, its time for a throw up in the Centre.
Fixture. Please do not allow clubs to 'request' games/match ups etc. Wheel out the draw based on performance if you have to, but please dont further compromise if by 'having' to fit 2x Ess v Coll, a Rich v Carl season opener, 2 x derbys etc. A good match up will draw regardless. And please stop trying to guess what a 'high rating' Friday night game might be. If someone had said a GWS v Adelaide match up would be a ball burster at the start of the season you may have been laughed at- but low and behold....
Can I keep going?