'Holding the ball' calls down: Gieschen (Age)

[one-eyed]

'Holding the ball' calls down
Greg Baum
The Age
April 20, 2012


RELATIVELY fewer free kicks are paid for ''holding the ball'' now than 10 years ago, AFL director of umpiring Jeff Gieschen said yesterday.

Addressing a perception that umpires are too harsh on ball-carriers, Gieschen said tackles had increased three-fold since 1999, from about 50 per game to about 150. But 5.2 per cent of tackles now are rewarded with free kicks, compared with nearly 7 per cent a decade ago.

Gieschen said the statistics refuted the idea that umpires were applying the ''prior opportunity'' test too strictly. ''It shows our umpires are trying to give the players time, and protect the ball player as much as we can,'' he said. ''We're not just willy-nilly pinging players for holding the ball.
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''But it tells you how much congestion there is. It tells you how well the clubs are drilled now in tackling. Once, there were players that just wouldn't tackle. Now, if you don't tackle, you're in deep, deep trouble.''

Gieschen said players had become more adept at releasing the ball when tackled. This had led to a different problem, identified mid-way through last season: a rise in throwing.

''The players are aware. It's congested. They know where the umpire is,'' he said. ''In the effort to move it really quickly when there's so much congestion, they'll take some liberties. They'll take a punt. They know the umpires sometimes can't see everything. The congestion got denser and denser, we got blindsided and were not detecting as many throws as we should.''

Gieschen said umpires had been more alert since the trend became apparent. After three rounds last year, 24 ''throwing the ball'' style free kicks had been paid. This year (remembering that there is an extra game per round), the number is 43.

Gieschen urged fans to maintain a distinction between throwing and making an authentic attempt to dispose of the ball. If, for instance, a player had not had prior opportunity, and had one arm pinned, and the ball rolled off the fingertips of the other hand, the call would be ''play on''.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/holding-the-ball-calls-down-20120419-1xa47.html#ixzz1sVk6VfWr

[Penelope]

I still see the bloke making the play getting penalised too quickly, too often, but it does seem to have improved on what it was a few years ago

[mightytiges]

No surprise holding the ball calls are down when dropping the ball as soon as you get tackled is now allowed and the ump calls play on.

[The Big Richo]

No surprise holding the ball calls are down when dropping the ball as soon as you get tackled is now allowed and the ump calls play on.

It is allowed if you haven't had a prior opportunity to dispose of the ball.

[Penelope]

a blatant throw is not allowed, or not supposed to be. You are supposed to make an attempt to dispose of it properly. nor is it holding the ball if it is knocked out in the tackle and there has been no prior opportunity