I'll give an example to try and explain my position on the stand rule.
Let's say the AFL said we need to improve goal kicking accuracy and they brought in a rule that said when a player has a set shpt for goal, they must first turn and bow to a gold statue of Gil McLachlan that they will mount at every venue on centre wing.
Now that would be a stupid look for the game but the true test of the rule would be about the goal kicking numbers. If that rule came in and players kicked more goals than points it would be a good rule, even if it looked silly. If they kicked less goals it would be a bad rule and look silly. If they kicked the same then it would be a nothing rule that looked silly.
And then there might be other impacts, such as players having more or less set shots which would also be part of assessing the rule.
So we can take it as read that the stand rule looks silly, but what does it actually do to the game?
Mate, scoring accuracy has never improved.
Scoring goes up and down a little, but somehow even with state of the art stadiums, no VFL and Under 19's games before the Seniors game so no playing on mudlarks, a stadium with a roof, state of the art footwear, the science, watching guys bounce kick balls into rubbish bins, around the corner kicks, all the benefits of modern day football. Goalkicking accuracy stays about the same.
I am sure we all played in atrocious conditions, we wore those boots that weighed a tonne compared to the boots of today designed personally for Dusty/Jack/Cameron/Hawkins they get direct from the boot company, sculpted for their individual feet and yet those goalkicking accuracy numbers stay around that 50-53% bracket.
In 1969 scouring accuracy hit 50% for the first time - 50.20%.
By 2005 it hit it's highest mark of 54.41%, that's not really a big jump with all the improvements mentioned above to the code in those 36 years.
Last 5 years reads where's it been at forever and a day - 52.03, 52.01, 52.02, 52.37, 53.33.
Maybe the Gil Gold Statue, bow and a prayer to it, turn and have a set shot might be it man!!