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What are you looking forward to in 2023
- Thread starter tigerman
- Start date
It’s very simple. If three players go up for the ruck play a free kick.
While I’m at it, the stand rule is crap. If the afl want it in , call play on earlier. As soon as the player runs off his line call it.
Nothing looks sillier than a player just waltzing past and the man on the mark just standing their watching like a spectator.
I don't understand why blocking is the big issue in ruck contests. Blocking happens everywhere, at stoppages and in each F50 and umps have to adjudicate on these all the time. To somehow say its impossible to judge in a ruck contest is ridiculous. It's easier because it's a stop play and you have 3 umpires able to watch the contest. Its simple to tell who is contesting and who is merely getting in the way. Teams are not going to send a mid up against a ruck.
The AFL have it down pat when it comes to stupid adjudictaion anyway, it could not possibly be worse than the farce that was the dissent rule. Or the stand rule.
The AFL have it down pat when it comes to stupid adjudictaion anyway, it could not possibly be worse than the farce that was the dissent rule. Or the stand rule.
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Agree. They adjudicate blocking in marking contests don’t they ?
We did for at least a year. How will an umpire know who the "ruckman" was going to be? In the past we could have any one of Rioli, Riewoldt, Edwards or Grigg throwing their arms arms up saying they were blocked, or being kept away from the contest.
It doesn't matter who the ruckman is going to be. If a player feigns to ruck and is watching a man and not the ball and doesn't contest he is blocking. Its very simple. It's a dumb argument to say its too hard. Get in there and throw it up, don't waste time asking who is rucking. Teams will not have time to create elaborate blocking plays. Teams with a ruckman contesting and focusing on winning the stoppage will have a big advantage. Blocking happens everywhere and is adjudictaed everywhere. Easier at a stoppage with 3 umps watching it.
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We were not focused on winning stoppage. Rioli & Edwards ruck contesting? Cmon.
It's not an elaborate blocking play, it's not even illegal. You're allowed to stand in front of someone or put some body on them.
If they dropped the nominations rule, then at every stoppage Nankervis would have a midfielder stand front left of him and engage him.
They would be watching the ball, in a position to rove it, and there would be nothing illegal about it.
That’s fine it was one against one. Nank was the only ruck that day. Grigg Rioli or whoever was closest would take the ruck.
I
Marking and ruck contests are fundamentally different though.
As long as you are trying to contest the ball, you can prevent your opponent from getting to the ball in a marking contest, you can work them under the ball from the back, get ball side and hold them out of it, or hold front position and not let them get to it. All of those things are excellent body use in a marking contest but a free kick in a ruck contest.
In the ruck contest you have to give your opponent access to position before you engage with them and then you can't use your body to prevent them accessing the ball.
Not having nominations won't work because at a stoppage everyone else can engage and use body to control an opponents position. The only way you can not have nominations is if you go back to all the old ruck rules.
Marking and ruck contests are fundamentally different though.
As long as you are trying to contest the ball, you can prevent your opponent from getting to the ball in a marking contest, you can work them under the ball from the back, get ball side and hold them out of it, or hold front position and not let them get to it. All of those things are excellent body use in a marking contest but a free kick in a ruck contest.
In the ruck contest you have to give your opponent access to position before you engage with them and then you can't use your body to prevent them accessing the ball.
Not having nominations won't work because at a stoppage everyone else can engage and use body to control an opponents position. The only way you can not have nominations is if you go back to all the old ruck rules.
But in general ruck work, if there's no nomination then "Grigg Rioli or whoever was closest" could easily be blocked from getting easy access to the ball. There's nothing against the rules to block them if they're not competing in the ruck, but it is against the rules if they are competing. The question remains -- how will the umpire know?
A block is not a block because the rules are different in marking contests compared to ruck contests. Being "shoulder to shoulder" with someone in a marking contest is fine, but not in a rucking contest. One is blocking, one is not.
The ruck nomination rule was not brought in to prevent blocking in the ruck. It was brought in to prevent a bunch of other players jumping in over the top of 2 competing ruckmen and ruining a tradition of game. Therefore, logically, its removal can’t have any impact on blocking.
As an extension of that, there is already the capacity to pay a block all over the ground - be it marking, ruck, general play. If you’re not genuinely competing for the ball it’s a free kick. That won’t change.
No need for nominations. 3rd man up is a free kick. Blocking is a free kick. Simple.
Just about every man and his dog has wanted this unnecessary ruck nomination rule removed. Finally the AFL is listening.
That's not correct, the exact same action in a marking contest is a free kick in a ruck contest.
Eg, if the ball is between player A and B like so:
*
A B
and player A crosses the line of the ball to engage the opponent on the right like so:
*
AB
They can hold player B in a marking contest and lunge left to mark the ball and it is ok, they can body player B right at the stoppage to create space for the ruckman to knock the ball to their left and it is ok, but if a ruckman crosses the line of the ball like that and makes contact with an opponent it is a block.
So at a stoppage you can legitimately be using a body action but if the opponent turns out to be the ruckman then you are giving away a free kick.
The only way it can work without nominations is to go back to how it was, which is anyone can come from anywhere to conest the ruck.
Edit: It ruins my diagrams when I post, in the first one the ball is in the middle of the two players, second one it is to the left of player A.
Do you think that guys under 6 foot are going to be rucking ? And if they are, or some other player is gonna ruck other than the logical monster, that their opponent can’t drop off as they run at the ball to compete ? And that also diminishes their clearance and positional capacity if they do anyway.
But let’s play devils advocate and say that happens. What it will do is that you are gonna see a massive increase to tactical play and a fair old increase in movement of ball as well because players will be standing off each other quite a bit or not playing a negative shoulder on shoulder game as much.
Common sense change on many fronts.
I don't reckon you will be saying that when Geelong go back to back after kicking 7000 goals from forward 50 stoppages next year, 3000 of which come from free kicks.
