AFL Rule Changes

[Tiger Spirit]

I see rules changing is a reaction to the game changing due to strategies introduced by the coaches, such as the 'play-on' style from Barassi at Carlton which was a major change, the 'lie on the ground and fake injury' from Parkin at Carlton to stop a team's run by getting a stretcher on the ground and now the 'hold possession no matter what' which I give credit (blame) to Mark Williams at Port Adelaide who used a lot of crappy basketball and lacrosse set ups to great effect which had to be copied or countered.

This is where the game has a major problem.  If they change the rules in response to every other AFL coach that comes through the door, in time, this game will barely be recognisable, if it’s not already.

The ‘win at all costs’ mentality of coaches is a major concern in all of this, because that is what is helping to reduce the game to a bore-fest.  And winning is all they seem to care about, which is understandable to some degree, but if some of them had even a little bit of pride in the game of Aussie Rules, then they could not bring the game to its knees, with the way some of them choose to go about things.  And clearly, some of them have absolutely no consideration for anything outside their own little patch of dirt.

Great coaches have a big picture view of the environment they operate in and their surroundings.  Clearly, some AFL coaches have a narrow view of things.

Thankfully there'll always be the Richos who have a mind of their own and struggle to stop natural instinct being overridden by the coach's team strategies.

Unfortunately, there aren’t all that many personalities left in the game, because they’re all programmed like robots.  The way the game is now, where’s the ability for players to play on instinct, use some initiative and do what seems flamboyant or logical even?  Unless you’re the Brisbane Lions (at their best), or another balanced team, there is none.  And simply because few teams have the ability of those awesome Brisbane teams, many clubs plan and organise everything to the last detail, in order to minimise and reduce the damage on the scoreboard.

It doesn’t seem to matter to them if the game suffers, just as long as they get the result they want.  As a result, the game is being planned and organised to within an inch of its life; to the point where the game just needs someone to carry out the coach’s instructions.  And any individual flair, personality and character that may show through is purely accidental.

Is that what we want, because that’s where we’re headed?

But no, let’s just tweak a few rules and everything will be fine.

[mightytiges]

Play-on if it bounces in off the goal post is NAB only Moi (thankfully). The worry is it has now survived for 3 pre-season comps.

Another dumb rule  . One of the Cloke's last night marked on the 3/4 time siren and hit the post with his shot but the Pies missed out on a point because the ball bounced back into the field  ???.

[mightytiges]

Funny you say that MT.  I thought maybe it was you, because he had a lot of your theories/argument down pat.   Although I thought he coulda went for the jugular and argued the point a bit stronger.

LOL

Reason 1. When you hear a former coach, like Robert Walls, say that he refused to use flooding, even when his team (Brisbane) copped the biggest hiding in the history of the game then surely that is an indication that the way the game looks is a mindset by the coaches.  They direct and instruct the players.  The rules are just guidelines and things they work to and around.

Fair enough Walls saying that but IIRC he was the one that introduced the huddle with the kick-ins as coach of Fitzroy so he has played a small part in the demise of positional footy. He also came to Richmond as coach saying our direct style under Northey was too predictable and wanted us to play a more possession style even though as it turned out we didn't have a list with the skill and class to play that way.

Reason 2. Up until TW came to Richmond, our team flooded to the point of turning our own supporters off the game.  All of a sudden we’re a lot more attacking.  Does that say we’re playing to very different rules or that the coach thinks differently?

Spud had only one gameplan and once opposition coaches worked that out after 2001 he was dead man walking. Spud's name doesn't come to mind when you think of a "thinking coach"  .

[mightytiges]

Former head honcho Wayne Jackson's view in the Herald-Sun:

"What worries me the most is I think there's an inclination on the part of everybody to take out some of the aggression and the body contact in the game," Jackson said.

"Of course, I'm not referring to the illegal stuff. But increasingly where there's really hard bumping . . . our umpires tend to overreact to that. And indeed the crowd overreacts now relative to what we did 20 years ago. So I am concerned that we're getting a little softer in that area and I hope that balance tends to redress itself a little."

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,18374451%255E19742,00.html

It's not the only issue but I agree the umps need to just pay the obvious frees and let the game go.