Opinion Posts That Don't Deserve a Thread (Random Opinion or Questions)

[The Mares Leg]

QUESTION - There’s been a few references to a change in the rules circa centre square set ups.

I’ve heard it’s hurt Grundy’s impact - but I have no idea what this rule change was.

Can someone clue me in?

 

[RedBloodBlackSwan]

Pretty much. That plus umpires would call more quickly for a ball up where there had been no prior and the ball was clearly pinned.

Some other (I think unintended) consequences did flow - like some umpires deciding to do away with the concept of prior opportunity altogether. But I don’t understand what other consequences people think flowed from the change - either direct and intended, or indirect/unintended - that negatively affected some teams more than others.

The change that Dixon tried to argue was not actually part of the intended change (or I don’t think it was) and he provided scant evidence to support it had actually occurred. I’m not saying it didn’t, just that his analysis was fleeting and shallow. Leigh Montagna and David King both looked sceptical, though they didn’t contradict him.

Thanks for the greater depth.

I don’t like where the changes are all going to speed up the game. I almost feel like I now follow the swans but not the AFL.

The games have become too much like ping pong with rapid changes in momentum. Great for the ADHD generation, but I preferred it when tension gradually grew and there was a real battle to earn territory and then convert to scores.

It might be that I grew up with league and rugby, but so many of the goals seem so soft now. For this reason, I don’t enjoy the swans goals as much as I used to, and I can’t really annoyed when the opposition scores a soft one! It’s not that the players are softer, it’s just that momentum and territory now sit on a razor’s edge.

I think it would be have been simpler just to take 3 or so players off the field (ironically something that rugby union really needs to do as their game is now broken, because they haven’t done nearly enough to change with the times).

 

[Kiama Chris]

Thanks for the greater depth.

I don’t like where the changes are all going to speed up the game. I almost feel like I now follow the swans but not the AFL.

The games have become too much like ping pong with rapid changes in momentum. Great for the ADHD generation, but I preferred it when tension gradually grew and there was a real battle to earn territory and then convert to scores.

It might be that I grew up with league and rugby, but so many of the goals seem so soft now. For this reason, I don’t enjoy the swans goals as much as I used to, and I can’t really annoyed when the opposition scores a soft one! It’s not that the players are softer, it’s just that momentum and territory now sit on a razor’s edge.

I think it would be have been simpler just to take 3 or so players off the field (ironically something that rugby union really needs to do as their game is now broken, because they haven’t done nearly enough to change with the times).

Totally agree about reducing the number of players on the field as a simpler method of creating space but fear that coaches would make the game more of a rolling maul than it is now.

 

[RedBloodBlackSwan]

Totally agree about reducing the number of players on the field as a simpler method of creating space but fear that coaches would make the game more of a rolling maul than it is now.

Firstly, thanks mods for moving my post to this thread (I strayed a fair bit from Brayden Campbell!).

One experiment I would love to see is embracing the ruck / maul completely. Switch to rugby union rules once a tackle commences, with a 10 metre perimeter set up around the ruck / maul where players can only enter from behind the last feet.

 

[liz]

Thanks for the greater depth.

I don’t like where the changes are all going to speed up the game. I almost feel like I now follow the swans but not the AFL.

The games have become too much like ping pong with rapid changes in momentum. Great for the ADHD generation, but I preferred it when tension gradually grew and there was a real battle to earn territory and then convert to scores.

It might be that I grew up with league and rugby, but so many of the goals seem so soft now. For this reason, I don’t enjoy the swans goals as much as I used to, and I can’t really annoyed when the opposition scores a soft one! It’s not that the players are softer, it’s just that momentum and territory now sit on a razor’s edge.

I think it would be have been simpler just to take 3 or so players off the field (ironically something that rugby union really needs to do as their game is now broken, because they haven’t done nearly enough to change with the times).

I don't think this interpretation change was designed specifically to speed the game up. The emphasis was on the umpires making the decision more quickly, not throwing up more quickly. Though it's the latter than Dixon seemed to substitute for the decision making.

There certainly have been calls for umpires to throw up more quickly at stoppages as a way of reducing congestion. I don't know whether the data supports them doing so. But that wasn't what the midseason change was about.

 

[Millky95]

Totally agree about reducing the number of players on the field as a simpler method of creating space but fear that coaches would make the game more of a rolling maul than it is now.

That's not the problem. Otherwise you may as well have 1 ruck, 1 mid, 1 tall forward and 1 defender. All the space in the space in the world

Remove the interchange cap and we can stop drafting those that can and training people to run all day. I would rather see 22 touches of an elite ball user and footballer than 45 touches of someone who can run all day but is useless once they have the ball.

 

[liz]

One experiment I would love to see is embracing the ruck / maul completely. Switch to rugby union rules once a tackle commences, with a 10 metre perimeter set up around the ruck / maul where players can only enter from behind the last feet.

For what purpose? Would that not just change the game into some completely different sport? Such as rugby?

 

[RedBloodBlackSwan]

For what purpose? Would that not just change the game into some completely different sport? Such as rugby?

I think it would become 75% AFL and 25% rugby sevens. Key word was experiment - not suggesting top line AFL goes down this path anytime soon.

I think the rule change could make the tackle situation much more exciting. It would also remove one of the most contentious parts of AFL with the HTB interpretations.

 

[The Mares Leg]

QUESTION - There’s been a few references to a change in the rules circa centre square set ups.

I’ve heard it’s hurt Grundy’s impact - but I have no idea what this rule change was.

Can someone clue me in?

Anyone help out with this?

 

[Ticky009]

Anyone help out with this?

Are you talking about a previous rule brought in because of Grundy or a proposed new rule?

 

[BloodySwan]

Are you talking about a previous rule brought in because of Grundy or a proposed new rule?

What was the mid season changes to the rules?

The only one I could find was the umpires are calling HTB faster than they were in the beginning of the season

 

[The Mares Leg]

Are you talking about a previous rule brought in because of Grundy or a proposed new rule?

I’m unsure what and why tje rule interpretation was changed.

BloodySwan may have picked it.

All I know is it has effected Grundy’s impact…..apparently.

 

[GoTheSwannies]

The only rule change I'm aware of is the HTB interpretation, which shouldn't have an impact on Grundys' game. In saying that, outside of the first couple of weeks, I feel as though the rule hasn't really been enforced any differently than it has in prior seasons.

 

[Kiama Chris]

The only rule change I'm aware of is the HTB interpretation, which shouldn't have an impact on Grundys' game. In saying that, outside of the first couple of weeks, I feel as though the rule hasn't really been enforced any differently than it has in prior seasons.

NOT a rule change but definitely CALLING ball-up much faster, which I really like, though I don't know that Dixon is correct about the ball going up quicker after the call. To my eye they're still waiting for the rucks. Nothing to do with any individual player.

 

[liz]

The only rule change I'm aware of is the HTB interpretation, which shouldn't have an impact on Grundys' game. In saying that, outside of the first couple of weeks, I feel as though the rule hasn't really been enforced any differently than it has in prior seasons.

I feel like they've reverted to giving a player with an arm free an eternity to try to dispose of the ball, but those umpires who used the rule interpretation to cancel the concept of prior opportunity have continued to do so. So the worst of all worlds.

 

[The Mares Leg]

Bloody funny call on SEN - talk back discussing team nicknames - Caller rings in ‘We have Orange Tsunami, the Purple Haze, the Black and White army…..Hawthorn should be called the Brown & Gold sewage pipe!

 

[dosser]

Firstly, thanks mods for moving my post to this thread (I strayed a fair bit from Brayden Campbell!).

One experiment I would love to see is embracing the ruck / maul completely. Switch to rugby union rules once a tackle commences, with a 10 metre perimeter set up around the ruck / maul where players can only enter from behind the last feet.

I've always thought a good option would be if someone (apart from the tackler) comes in after the tackle is effected and doesn't stay on their feet then it is a free.

 

[liz]

I've always thought a good option would be if someone (apart from the tackler) comes in after the tackle is effected and doesn't stay on their feet then it is a free.

I've sometimes wondered whether it would be possible to mandate one tackler only - ie second man in means free to the opposition. But I suspect that would be far too hard for players to adjust to, and doesn't allow for two tacklers arriving simultaneously.

An alternative might be that there can be no "holding the ball" free kick awarded where more than one player comes in to tackle. It automatically reverts to a ball up. If a player isn't skillful enough to hold the player in a tackle on his own, his team doesn't get rewarded. It would actually make it easier to judge whether a player was making a genuine attempt to get rid of it if he was only being tackled by one opponent. And it might discourage the 'stax-on-the-mill' situations where a half dozen players land up lying on each other.

 

[The Mares Leg]

What was the mid season changes to the rules?

The only one I could find was the umpires are calling HTB faster than they were in the beginning of the season

Pretty sure I found the change. effecting Grundy:

Rule 18.4 -

• Straight-arm blocks will be permitted in a ruck contest, provided the player contests the ball

Brody often slipped past the opposing ruckman, coming from behind.

This has killed that tactic.

Another subtle AFL act of espionage?

 

[Ticky009]

I’m unsure what and why tje rule interpretation was changed.

BloodySwan may have picked it.

All I know is it has effected Grundy’s impact…..apparently.

The only thing impacting Grundy is a long season.

 

[Ticky009]

Pretty sure I found the change. effecting Grundy:

Rule 18.4 -

• Straight-arm blocks will be permitted in a ruck contest, provided the player contests the ball

Brody often slipped past the opposing ruckman, coming from behind.

This has killed that tactic.

Another subtle AFL act of espionage?

Wasn't this brought in before this season? And my understanding is he was using it to his advantage.

 

[The Mares Leg]

Wasn't this brought in before this season? And my understanding is he was using it to his advantage.

I only have limited info - it came in start of this year, thats definite.

I hear Buckley say on SEN that ‘a rule change’ was hurting his performances.

That’s where it sits.

 

[BloodySwan]

Pretty sure I found the change. effecting Grundy:

Rule 18.4 -

• Straight-arm blocks will be permitted in a ruck contest, provided the player contests the ball

Brody often slipped past the opposing ruckman, coming from behind.

This has killed that tactic.

Another subtle AFL act of espionage?

The AFL rarely changes the rule during the season, just the "interpretation" will change throughout the season.

 

[bedford]

Wasn't this brought in before this season? And my understanding is he was using it to his advantage.

Killed big Max with it

 

[Ticky009]

I only have limited info - it came in start of this year, thats definite.

I hear Buckley say on SEN that ‘a rule change’ was hurting his performances.

That’s where it sits.

Well he used it to crush Big Maxy in our first game against the Demons so not sure on that.