Adelaide coach Don Pyke hopes the AFL will review its new third man up ruck rule after Sunday’s farcical free kick paid against the Crows.
The new rule, introduced in December, decrees only one nominated ruckman from each team may contest a stoppage – outlawing the tactic of a third player attempting to come over the top.
But Crows midfielder Dean Gore was penalised in the first quarter of his side’s six-point win over Geelong after a shallow boundary throw-in hit him in the back.
Gore was shadowing Cats skipper Joel Selwood at the time and was watching rucks Rhys Stanley and Reilly O’Brien wrestle at the stoppage when the ball hit him on the full.
“It’s one of the real weird ones of that rule – if the ball hits you as a midfielder, and you’re around the contest, it’s a free kick against,” Pyke said.
“If that led to a goal … I’d hate to see that happen in a big game.
“It seems like one of those things which is a bit of an anomaly, if you like.
“He wasn’t trying to contest the ball – it was just that the ball hit him.
“Maybe it’s something they’ll look at. I’ll leave that with the umpires.”
In that situation, players other than nominated rucks can only take possession at a stoppage if the ball has bounced first – essentially requiring players to stand back and watch.
Or even worse, run away from the ball for fear of giving away a free kick.
Two frees were paid for the same infringement in Saturday’s AFL Women’s clash between Carlton and the Western Bulldogs at Princes Park.
In a tight match, the Dogs goaled from a free kick after the throw-in cleared the two nominated rucks and was touched first by a Blues player.
“Our girl … actually ran away from (the ball) and it was the Carlton girl that just naturally tapped it and it’s a free kick in front of goal,” Dogs coach Paul Groves said.
“For us, surely it’s a reset and you go again if the throw’s bad. There’s human error in everything, (but) just reset it – don’t pay a free kick to the girl it fell on in that case.
“That will evolve; the AFL are no doubt having a look at it.”
Carlton’s men’s side copped a 92-point belting at the hands of St Kilda in the second match of the double-header at Princes Park.
It was the Blues’ second mauling in as many weeks, but defiant coach Brendon Bolton called for perspective, with some short-term pain to be expected as Carlton continued their lengthy rebuild.
Fremantle recorded their first win of the pre-season, Ed Langdon kicking a goal after the siren to sink Collingwood by two points in Mandurah.
Brisbane and Sydney also notched their opening wins of the pre-season, over the Bulldogs and Greater Western Sydney respectively.
Cat
Roar Guru
Just goes to show how absolutely stupid outlawing 3rd man up is. Didn't even bother to think it through before rushing it into the game. Now we'll need more rule changes to fix this useless rule.
Paul D
Roar Guru
How often have you seen a shallow throw hit a player who isn’t a ruck before the ball has touched the ground first? Not often I’ll wager. Umpires are allowed to try out their kids in pre-season games too. In this case the umpires hands were tied, if it touches a player who isn’t a ruck before hitting the ground it’s a free kick. Gore wasn’t watching the ball and it bounced off his back. Bit unfortunate but that’s the rules and it has to be rigorously enforced, you can’t just call ‘play on’ and make it up as you go. This is a storm in a teacup. Turn your head for half a second if it’s being thrown inside 50. Or watch the ruckmen, where they’re going should give you an idea of where the ball is headed.
I hate pies
Guest
Talk about unintended consequences. This incident highlights the mentality of the AFL umpire; they "interpret" the rules with absolutely no ability to apply common sense or the spirit of the game. Someone needs to tell them that their overarching purpose is to ensure that the game is played fairly, ie. no-one gets an unfair advantage. It shouldn't be that hard for them.
Col from Brissie
Roar Guru
Absolutely ridiculous that because a Boundary umpire has a shallow throw-in and hits a player in the back a team gets penalised. Surely common sense is to call play on or throw it in again. This needs to be clarified before the season starts.