State of Umpiring [merged]

[WilliamPowell]

Yes Fagan said it too in am interview on 3AW last night

[the claw]

Its bad enough at times now players sitting on players waiting for them to take possesion. No one will want to go and get the bloody ball if prior was taken away.

The real trouble is they are paranoid about stoppages so instead of balling it up when its obvious it aint coming out they let it go and go and go and then pluck one even worse make up new rules so they can pay a free kick..

FMD how many parts are there to holding the ball.
 Player takes the ball and then  Player is tackled.  Its dead easy
1/did he have time to dispose of the ball. 2/ If yes Did he dispose of it  correctly.

1/ he didnt have time to dispose of the ball then its a ball up or if it is knocked out play on.

FMD there is only one part of the rule that is open to question and that is how much time constutes prior opportunity. Maybe we should just put a time limit on it like say two seconds.

If we didnt do away with the bump and lets face it they basically have then there would be less need to tackle.

Not allowed to bump not allowed to drive home a tackle just more things wrong with the game.

[Tiger Khosh]

I would be very very strongly against them implementing this. All it does is disadvantage the ball winners. Why go for the ball if you can just wait until someone else picks it up and tackle them to get a holding the ball free kick?

[crackertiger]

They don't need to remove the prior opportunity rule. They just need to pay the blatant incorrect disposals during a tackle. It's really not that hard. The throws and the dropping the balls that we all see.

Seriously...

[one-eyed]

Here is what Dimma (and Fagan) said.

Chris Scott is against any change.

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‘Get rid of it’: Richmond coach calls for major rule change

Oliver Caffrey and Shayne Hope
7Sport
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 4:31 pm AEST

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has called for the AFL to scrap prior opportunity as a way to remove the confusion regarding holding-the-ball.

The rule and its application have come under scrutiny since St Kilda coach Brett Ratten lamented his side earning just three free kicks from 86 tackles against Geelong on Friday night.

Hardwick said it was up the AFL to make life easier for umpires.

“Prior opportunity just makes the umpires’ job harder,” he said on Wednesday.

“Put the pressure on the players, the players adjust really quickly.

“We’ve seen how quickly they’ve adjusted to the man on the mark rule.

“If we put the rule in place that the players have to get rid of it, they’ll start tapping it, they’ll start kicking.”

Hardwick referenced Essendon great and former teammate Michael Long as a great exponent of keeping the ball alive.

“The amount of handballs we see now if we go back in the course of time and look at history, the players used to kick it, now under pressure they will handball,” the three-time premiership coach said.

“If we take away prior opportunity, it probably reduces congestion around that.

“Back in the old days you knew you were going to get tackled and knock it on.

“You tap the ball to your advantage, you kick it off the ground, or you kick it long.

“The really smart players will become smarter.”

Brisbane coach Chris Fagan had similar thoughts to Hardwick, saying players who did not handball or kick the ball after they were tackled should be immediately penalised.

But Geelong’s Chris Scott did not think the rule needed to be changed.

“It seems that there are some people that think that rewarding the tackler is the most important thing and that’s not the rule,” Scott said.

“It’s incumbent on everyone, including some of the media commentators as well, to understand exactly how the rule is interpreted and I think the umpires have been quite clear with us.

“Obviously there are individual variations within umpires and sometimes there is a little bit of a tightening or loosening of the interpretation, but I think we understand the rule pretty well.

“The important thing within games is that it is consistent for both teams.”

https://7news.com.au/sport/afl/get-rid-of-it-richmond-coach-calls-for-major-rule-change-c-2880184

[WilliamPowell]

So Scott says the rule doesn't need to change but at the same time  says "The important thing within games is that it is consistent for both teams.”

He can't have it both ways. There is no consistency in the rule.

And seeing his side seems to one of the main incorrect disposal offenders it is no surprise he doesn't want the rule changed

[JP Tiger]

Change the rules, prior opportunity is out, fine. 
Around 180 tackles are made in each game, so tell me how we avoid paying 180 free kicks per game after the prior opportunity rule goes out?             

[Tigeritis™©®]

Change the rules, prior opportunity is out, fine. 
Around 180 tackles are made in each game, so tell me how we avoid paying 180 free kicks per game after the prior opportunity rule goes out?           

Players won’t always possess the ball. The best players (like Dusty) will do as they do now and still get the ball and somehow extract the ball and we will continue to marvel at their skill. The others will have to be more inventive by taping knocking or punching the ball into space so they can run onto it.
Those players that choose to possess the ball without disposing of it correctly will incur a penalty but It avoids ball up stoppages which slow the game down.
Footy survived without the rule just fine. If your unsure how this might look I suggest you watch any game prior to 1996 - watch any game in the 90s (considered the golden era of our game) prior to the rule and you’ll see what part time players were able to do
Free kicks opens up the play and you get more open play and more goals as a result ( just like it was during AFLs golden era)
Paid free kicks aren’t the most frustrating thing it’s the ones that aren’t paid that are most frustrating.

Watch this. Enjoy.
https://youtu.be/p_hBmHxRLNE

*pay close attention to the one on one contests when the ball is on the ground

[Andyy]

They don't need to remove the prior opportunity rule. They just need to pay the blatant incorrect disposals during a tackle. It's really not that hard. The throws and the dropping the balls that we all see.

Seriously...

Play the blatant ones and also pay the borderline ones so players learn they need to clearly and cleanly dispose the ball.

Also stop paying high frees for knee droppers/shoulder shrugs or I swear I will jump the fence one day and headbutt selwood

[Chuck17]

7 to 1 free kicks against stopped our good start

Thanks Maggots

[Chuck17]

Every stuffing week you think it can’t get worse

But sure enough the maggot stuffers stuff show their cheating stuffing poo

[Buddysucks]

20-6 at half time.

[pmac21]

If we don't officially complain were soft.

[WilliamPowell]

If we don't officially complain were soft.

We have in the past, gets you nowhere so what's the point?

[Buddysucks]

At some point the coach has to stand up in public and call these cheats out for exactly what it is... blatant cheating and double standards. Credit to our boys for not teeing off at this crap on field.