Rule Changes Season 2021

[whufc]

Dont mind the 50m for lateral movement.
Always been a pet hate of mine when someone is having a shot from the boundary line about 10 or 15m out and the guy on the mark stands 4 or 5m in to get a head start when the guy plays on. I always thought if the defender wants to stand out there that the player should be able to kick from that improved angle. The 50m simplifies that

Yeah but you know its just going to be another 'rule' of the week that gets called some weeks not others.

Some ups will allow a little bit of leniency whilst others will be onto any movement whatsoever.

Just another grey area in the game despite a good intention.

[Lightning McQueen]

Are you still umpiring up north? I seen the Buffalo vs Wanderer game on TV the other night at zero o'clock, Pendles' brother goes alright.

Yeah, Did three A grade games been back in Div 1 (B grade) last two and this week)

We had an AFL listed umpire up here for the first six rounds (John Howorth #17) and he was fantastic with respect going through their decision making process and setting standards for training.

We did a lot of work on prior opportunity and what they look for in the HTB decision. Basically if a player isn't:
a) balanced and steady, b) trying to evade, c) fending, d) driving their head into a stationary opponent, e ) ignoring a prior option ignored & f) called to play from a free kick or mark, there no prior.

You can see how so few HTBs are paid at the AFL level and it looks scrappy because with the speed of the game if there's no Prior (see above) it isn't a legal tackle and they dispose of it legally it isn't HTB.

Every fortnight we were doing video sessions and quizzes with local and AFL footage to test our knowledge, 80% right was the acceptable pass level for or us, I got it once with my lowest mark 68% my lowest score.

The other things he said is they are allowed two mistakes (error of law not judgement) per game get more than two and its a please explain and dropped. A howler is an automatic drop.

Reminds me I should go back to the 2019 ANZAC day thread and say what he said about the last five minutes of umpiring and how they were assessed....

Yeah, I thought the umpiring was quite good from what I watched, it was night, 30+ degrees and 68% humidity so conditions were tricky and it was very hard fought, they were all over everything but also let the play go on as much as possible.

[Lightning McQueen]

More 50's for an inconsequential ruling/umpires interpretation of a subjective rule, YAY!

I really do wonder if they think these things through as to how they'll be taken by the general football watcher? Ok, obviously not.

Gotta feel for the umps, as they are the ones that cop all the abuse for paying soft 50 metre penalties, but the AFL are the ones that make up these crap rules and get them to enforce them. Players are dumb as dog shit too so they wont learn and there will be dozen 50's paid a game for this!

I wouldn't umpire AFL for quids, I used to umpire in 3 different leagues a weekend and remembering the different sets of rules was difficult at times.

The hardest part for me though is penalizing players when I don't actually agree with the decision I'm making if you get what I mean, a case of "I don't make the rules, I just enforce them".

[whufc]

Are you still umpiring up north? I seen the Buffalo vs Wanderer game on TV the other night at zero o'clock, Pendles' brother goes alright.

Yeah, Did three A grade games been back in Div 1 (B grade) last two and this week)

We had an AFL listed umpire up here for the first six rounds (John Howorth #17) and he was fantastic with respect going through their decision making process and setting standards for training.

We did a lot of work on prior opportunity and what they look for in the HTB decision. Basically if a player isn't:
a) balanced and steady, b) trying to evade, c) fending, d) driving their head into a stationary opponent, e ) ignoring a prior option ignored & f) called to play from a free kick or mark, there no prior.

You can see how so few HTBs are paid at the AFL level and it looks scrappy because with the speed of the game if there's no Prior (see above) it isn't a legal tackle and they dispose of it legally it isn't HTB.

Every fortnight we were doing video sessions and quizzes with local and AFL footage to test our knowledge, 80% right was the acceptable pass level for or us, I got it once with my lowest mark 68% my lowest score.

The other things he said is they are allowed two mistakes (error of law not judgement) per game get more than two and its a please explain and dropped. A howler is an automatic drop.

Reminds me I should go back to the 2019 ANZAC day thread and say what he said about the last five minutes of umpiring and how they were assessed....

great insight. Reckon it would help the AFL if they let the public know that kind of information.

[whufc]

More 50's for an inconsequential ruling/umpires interpretation of a subjective rule, YAY!

I really do wonder if they think these things through as to how they'll be taken by the general football watcher? Ok, obviously not.

Gotta feel for the umps, as they are the ones that cop all the abuse for paying soft 50 metre penalties, but the AFL are the ones that make up these crap rules and get them to enforce them. Players are dumb as dog shit too so they wont learn and there will be dozen 50's paid a game for this!

I wouldn't umpire AFL for quids, I used to umpire in 3 different leagues a weekend and remembering the different sets of rules was difficult at times.

The hardest part for me though is penalizing players when I don't actually agree with the decision I'm making if you get what I mean, a case of "I don't make the rules, I just enforce them".

Just don't pay it.

Different sport but ive been given out LBW in PDCA. Ball pitched a mile outside leg, having a beer after the game with the ump and I jokingly bring it up. He and I quote 'I know what the rule is but I don't have to agree with it, if it hits you on the pads and is going to hit the stumps im giving you' Me and the rest of the team were bewildered.

[Lightning McQueen]

Just don't pay it.

Different sport but ive been given out LBW in PDCA. Ball pitched a mile outside leg, having a beer after the game with the ump and I jokingly bring it up. He and I quote 'I know what the rule is but I don't have to agree with it, if it hits you on the pads and is going to hit the stumps im giving you' Me and the rest of the team were bewildered.

I don't, that's why I umpire in the leagues that I'm comfortable with the rules.

Who was the ump?

[whufc]

Just don't pay it.

Different sport but ive been given out LBW in PDCA. Ball pitched a mile outside leg, having a beer after the game with the ump and I jokingly bring it up. He and I quote 'I know what the rule is but I don't have to agree with it, if it hits you on the pads and is going to hit the stumps im giving you' Me and the rest of the team were bewildered.

I don't, that's why I umpire in the leagues that I'm comfortable with the rules.

Who was the ump?

An old teammate of mine Jonty lol.

Being a left hander im actually surprised if an ump ever actually knowns the leg side rule.

[am Bays]

Yeah, I thought the umpiring was quite good from what I watched, it was night, 30+ degrees and 68% humidity so conditions were tricky and it was very hard fought, they were all over everything but also let the play go on as much as possible.

Well you had one AFL umpire (JH), a VFL Development squad umpire (up here for part of the season) and one of our locals whose done the last three GFs and was on the NEAFL list. IMO 3 of our top six umpires.

[Grahaml]

Been saying for about 10 years now, make it 16 a side. Fixes basically every issue they have with congestion without the need for any new rules.

One of probably a dozen fairly obvious changes that would help but no, let's wait so players can walk back to positions inside the goalsquare. Lol.

[gadj1976]

AFL - “we listen to the fans”
Fans- “leave the game alone”
AFL - “can’t hear you, here’s some more rule changes”

Problem is, most of the ones saying leave the game alone are also the ones saying the game is shit, was better in the 80's

If the rules were left alone, maybe the game would adapt and the game would be better for it. We will never know because they get changed twice/thrice yearly.

If the rules we're left alone, we'd still have players bouncing the ball while being tackled, players just lying on the ball throwing their arms out while being tackled etc. The coaches & players who manipulate the rules are the ones to blame for the constant changes

Not saying that cracka, just saying stop messing with them so frequently. We don't know which ones work and don't work until the coaches and players adapt. Changing them yearly means players coaches and spectators start adapting to them and then they get changed again. Leave them for three years, then either take them on or remove them. This constant changing of rules does nothing for anyone.

[whufc]

Been saying for about 10 years now, make it 16 a side. Fixes basically every issue they have with congestion without the need for any new rules.

One of probably a dozen fairly obvious changes that would help but no, let's wait so players can walk back to positions inside the goalsquare. Lol.

I don't think it does though. Whilst space is a major part of congestion so is the speed that the game is played at.

Teams that want to slow the game down will do so. They will kick to boundary side where 5-6 of their players will be waiting, all a sudden you will still have 10-15 players all in a radius of 10m.

At ball ups and throw in they will throw in big numbers around the ball making it just as hard to win a clearance.

A big example is Elizabeth Oval is massively bigger than Norwood Oval but that doesn't mean every single game at EO is free flowing and non congestive. I mean during the decade of dominance Centrals were able to shut down games on the massive oval. On the other side ive seen many free flowing high scoring attractive games at Norwood Oval.

[Dutchy]

This 50 m law for players moving off the mark will be interesting.

Basically the AFL are trying to stop the team defence, currently if a player looks to run around behind his team mate for to outnumber their opponents on the fat side the defender who was originally marking that players pushes over to the take the mark and the original player on the tries to shut down the payer who has run around to create the over lap before the disposal or the umpire has called play on.

Now if that happens the player on the mark has to wait until the kick or play on has been called thereby creating an overlap, time and space so the attacking team can clear the contest. The original defender will have to run around behind the mark to try and block it off making it harder to do so.

Slight movement sides ways off the mark will be OK. The umpiring key for the 50 m will be if the player on the mark comes off the mark sideways before disposal or play on call to block the attacker trying to play on.

I believe the main action they are trying to stop the lateral movement of the player on the mark who is trying to defend the kick to the corridor/hotspot. Even at local level we coach that. Say ball is on centre wing near the boundary, the player on the mark moves laterally 10m from where the direct mark would be, encouraging the down the line kick, this means if they want to hit the 45 degree kick they have to go over the mark which is a much harder kick and the ball will be in the air for much longer, allowing intercepts.

Also applies to when a player is 60-70m out you rarely see a low pass to a leading forward these days, they are just high bombs, defending the mark has become an art form.

Its going to be horrible for the umps, the first month of footy in 2021 will be shocking.

[whufc]

This 50 m law for players moving off the mark will be interesting.

Basically the AFL are trying to stop the team defence, currently if a player looks to run around behind his team mate for to outnumber their opponents on the fat side the defender who was originally marking that players pushes over to the take the mark and the original player on the tries to shut down the payer who has run around to create the over lap before the disposal or the umpire has called play on.

Now if that happens the player on the mark has to wait until the kick or play on has been called thereby creating an overlap, time and space so the attacking team can clear the contest. The original defender will have to run around behind the mark to try and block it off making it harder to do so.

Slight movement sides ways off the mark will be OK. The umpiring key for the 50 m will be if the player on the mark comes off the mark sideways before disposal or play on call to block the attacker trying to play on.

I believe the main action they are trying to stop the lateral movement of the player on the mark who is trying to defend the kick to the corridor/hotspot. Even at local level we coach that. Say ball is on centre wing near the boundary, the player on the mark moves laterally 10m from where the direct mark would be, encouraging the down the line kick, this means if they want to hit the 45 degree kick they have to go over the mark which is a much harder kick and the ball will be in the air for much longer, allowing intercepts.

Also applies to when a player is 60-70m out you rarely see a low pass to a leading forward these days, they are just high bombs, defending the mark has become an art form.

Its going to be horrible for the umps, the first month of footy in 2021 will be shocking.

That's half the problem with professionalised sport.....every little part of the game is an 'art form'

[Zelezny Chucks]

Time to limit the amount of coaches they can have at a club and the amount of contact time they get to coach them each week. Bring it back to the best football brains on the field rather than picking elite athletes and turning them into robots.

The game was at it's best when the best football brains got picked and started going downhill when they recruited the best athletes to turn into footballers - ability to apply pressure went up combined with the lower skill level has turned it into what we have today.

[cracka]

Been saying for about 10 years now, make it 16 a side. Fixes basically every issue they have with congestion without the need for any new rules.

One of probably a dozen fairly obvious changes that would help but no, let's wait so players can walk back to positions inside the goalsquare. Lol.

I like the rule of having 3 players from each team inside the forward 50 at each stoppage. Would even go further & make it 3 more from each side have to start in the half of the ground where the stoppage isn't. To me that would resemble how football was in the 80's when players stayed in position. Would get rid of congestion, probably less stoppages & I would think/hope increased scoring.
IMO the worst look for the game is when there is a stoppage in a pocket almost all players are in 1 quarter of the oval
Don't mind the 16 a side idea to go with this

[whufc]

Been saying for about 10 years now, make it 16 a side. Fixes basically every issue they have with congestion without the need for any new rules.

One of probably a dozen fairly obvious changes that would help but no, let's wait so players can walk back to positions inside the goalsquare. Lol.

I like the rule of having 3 players from each team inside the forward 50 at each stoppage. Would even go further & make it 3 more from each side have to start in the half of the ground where the stoppage isn't. To me that would resemble how football was in the 80's when players stayed in position. Would get rid of congestion, probably less stoppages & I would think/hope increased scoring.
IMO the worst look for the game is when there is a stoppage in a pocket almost all players are in 1 quarter of the oval
Don't mind the 16 a side idea to go with this

Do you think it would though. All that would happen is the 6 players from one team (3 at either end) would be on the edge of the 50m arc and the other 12 players would be within 10m of the stoppage

[whufc]

Only way you get free flowing play back imo is to reward high scoring with premiership points for both the winning team and losing team.

Win 4 points
Draw 2 points
Loss 0 points
Bonus point for 10 goals, 2 pts for 15 goals, 3 pts for 20 goals regardless of whether you win or lose. I know people through the argument about weather etc but imo there is that many pros and cons it all negates it self. Is it statiscally proven under the roof at Etihad is higher scoring than any other ground.

Take away percentage as the tie breaker for even points and change the tie breaker to most points for.

[cracka]

Been saying for about 10 years now, make it 16 a side. Fixes basically every issue they have with congestion without the need for any new rules.

One of probably a dozen fairly obvious changes that would help but no, let's wait so players can walk back to positions inside the goalsquare. Lol.

I like the rule of having 3 players from each team inside the forward 50 at each stoppage. Would even go further & make it 3 more from each side have to start in the half of the ground where the stoppage isn't. To me that would resemble how football was in the 80's when players stayed in position. Would get rid of congestion, probably less stoppages & I would think/hope increased scoring.
IMO the worst look for the game is when there is a stoppage in a pocket almost all players are in 1 quarter of the oval
Don't mind the 16 a side idea to go with this

Do you think it would though. All that would happen is the 6 players from one team (3 at either end) would be on the edge of the 50m arc and the other 12 players would be within 10m of the stoppage

Ah yeah, I can see how that would happen if the stoppage was on the wing. My thinking was if it was in a pocket. Maybe 3 from each team within 25 metres of the goals & 3 more from each team starting on the edge of the square if the ball is on the wing. I don't know, just loved the good ol days when footballers played & not athletes

[whufc]

Been saying for about 10 years now, make it 16 a side. Fixes basically every issue they have with congestion without the need for any new rules.

One of probably a dozen fairly obvious changes that would help but no, let's wait so players can walk back to positions inside the goalsquare. Lol.

I like the rule of having 3 players from each team inside the forward 50 at each stoppage. Would even go further & make it 3 more from each side have to start in the half of the ground where the stoppage isn't. To me that would resemble how football was in the 80's when players stayed in position. Would get rid of congestion, probably less stoppages & I would think/hope increased scoring.
IMO the worst look for the game is when there is a stoppage in a pocket almost all players are in 1 quarter of the oval
Don't mind the 16 a side idea to go with this

Do you think it would though. All that would happen is the 6 players from one team (3 at either end) would be on the edge of the 50m arc and the other 12 players would be within 10m of the stoppage

Ah yeah, I can see how that would happen if the stoppage was on the wing. My thinking was if it was in a pocket. Maybe 3 from each team within 25 metres of the goals & 3 more from each team starting on the edge of the square if the ball is on the wing. I don't know, just loved the good ol days when footballers played & not athletes

Good point, I didn't consider stoppages in a pocket lol.

I agree though that football is severely broken and would love to see the good ol days back.

I really like the idea of less coaches and less contact with players. I feel like unless the AFL incentivise higher scoring with premiership points coaches will still look to shut the game down if they have the time and resources to do so. Maybe if we take that time and resources away we will see a change.

Im not sure how you would police a rule such as contact time between coaches and players especially in this day and age and the modern technology available.

[cracka]

The good ol days. Dietrich, Mandemaker, Davies, Plugger, Dunstall, Ablett, Salmon, all kicking bags of goals while a forward pocket/rover (Leigh Mathews) could also snag 5 or 6 or 9