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West Coast Eagle's player Andrew Embley is tackled by Carlton's Jeffery Garlett during the AFL Round 10 match between the Carlton Blues and the West Coast Eagles at Etihad Stadium, Melbourne.
I popped down to the WAFL on Saturday and witnessed Claremont demolish Peel Thunder by a staggering 195 points. Yet on the drive home my thoughts were not mesmerized by the margin of the victory but rather the performance of the umpires.
Saturday’s incredibly lopsided encounter was admittedly the first WAFL match I’ve got down to watch first-hand this season.
My Aussie Rules diet this season has consisted only of AFL and it hasn’t been in moderation.
So the short journey down to Claremont Oval was a refreshing change and one which got me thinking about the differences between the national and state-level competitions.
Beyond the obvious discrepancies in quality, the thought which resonated with me throughout the afternoon was the performance of the umpires who were barely noticed all game and did a good job.
Having watched AFL all year, I’ve been continually frustrated by the umpires’ willingness to constantly blow the whistle, particularly for holding the ball decisions. You can tell when they’re going to do it, they seem to let the play go on a little bit longer than usual.
It has appeared at times they don’t ever want to have to bounce the ball for fear of a stoppage.
On Saturday at the WAFL, though, there was no such trigger-happy whistle-blowing from the umpires and it made for better, more pure viewing.
And there’s a reason for these discrepancies. Way back in December last year, AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson announced in 2010 league umpires would crack down on players who try to bend the laws on holding the ball.
Anderson said: “What became clear in our consultation with clubs was that on a number of occasions, players are soaking up or absorbing the tackle, forcing a stoppage. Players must make an attempt (to dispose of the ball).”
Aussie Rules is a game where given the number of grey areas in the laws, players will always try to bend the rules to the limits, so that’s the rationale behind Anderson and co trying to find a solution, although I wonder if the problem merits it.
Nevertheless, the interpretation they’ve come up with as a result seems completely out of whack.
On Sunday, West Coast’s Matthew Rosa was pinged for holding the ball when he actually didn’t possess the footy, with the tackler, Carlton’s Heath Scotland, holding the ball around his chest.
In the Round 9 Geelong-Collingwood blockbuster we saw Cameron Ling done in a similar incident and there’s been countless others this season.
Indeed, what seems to have happened is rather than the player with the footy pushing the limits of the laws, the tackler is now the one bending the rules. Once a player dives on a footy, we see several opposition players pounce on that, force the ball under them, tackle them, hold the ball under and win a free-kick.
I’ve overheard umpires say “you’ve got to make an attempt”, but how can you do that when you don’t actually possess the footy anymore?
The point has already been made by numerous AFL commentators that they don’t like the idea of punishing a player for trying to win the ball. Jumping on the ball is what we’re all taught as young footballers, so this interpretation goes against the basic instincts of most Aussie Rules players.
In a video released at the start of the year following their revision of the ‘holding the ball’ interpretation, the AFL stated: “The purpose of the holding the ball law is to keep the ball in play”. Heaven forbid a stoppage!
Indeed, in this circumstance, it seems the AFL’s endless quest to speed up the game has created more problems than it has solved. The new ‘holding the ball’ interpretation appears to have come at expense of the fair and even contest and footy purists will be hating that.
It makes you think, perhaps soon the only place to find a fair dinkum contest will be down at your local suburban footy club.
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