bornadog
06-02-2009, 09:41 AM
The Age
Martin Boulton | February 6, 2009
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa198/mmsalih/Eade_train08_246_a.jpg
WESTERN Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade has forecast a fierce backlash over the introduction of the new rule that penalises rushed behinds with a free kick.
The rule is due to be trialled in the NAB Cup, but Eade said yesterday he had no doubt it would be introduced into the home-and-away season and could cost a team victory.
Eade said he was "totally against the new rule" and has great concerns about its potential impact on the outcome of games. "It's just a complete over-reaction," he said. "It's like stealing a loaf of bread and being sent off as a convict to the other side of the world — the penalty doesn't fit the crime."
The Bulldogs play Essendon next week in Darwin in the opening round of the pre-season competition and Eade said the club would "work with it and see how we go", but predicted a storm of controversy to flow from the new rule.
"For just pushing the ball over a line you can give a goal to the opposition — I don't see how that fits," he said. Goalsneak Jason Akermanis, who spent time playing in defence last season, has also expressed concern. "I understand the AFL's concerns about rushed behinds, but rushed behinds are only really an issue in a couple of games, it's not a big facet of the game," he said.
"I don't understand why there is continually knee-jerk reactions to lots of stuff in the game today. Our game doesn't need to keep changing."
A spate of rushed behinds in last year's grand final highlighted the issue, which also came to light earlier in the season when Richmond's Joel Bowden took the ball over the line twice in the dying stages of a game against Essendon.
The Hawks posted 11 rushed behinds in the grand final and the average number of rushed behinds per game has jumped from 3.9 five years ago to more than six now. But Eade said the league's response was excessive and expects "a lot of noise to be made" if the penalty results in a team losing a game, or worse, a final.
Hawthorn defender Campbell Brown approves of the controversial rule being trialled in pre-season fixtures, but wants a longer trial period.
"Hopefully they give us a couple of years before they bring it into the regular season," Brown said on the Hawthorn website.
Brown supported the league's decision, saying "I don't think they're clamping down too much", but said players would need more time to adapt to the rule.
"It took a while for players to get used to the hands-in-the-back law and there was a lot of argument from the back line.
"Now, after it's been in for a couple of years, we've learned to adapt to it and you've just got to try and come up with other ways to stop your opponent."
Eade supported the introduction of substitutes on the interchange bench.
"You can probably cope with (losing) one player, but if you lose two, with the amount of rotations and pace of the game, it does put a strain on the players," he said
Martin Boulton | February 6, 2009
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa198/mmsalih/Eade_train08_246_a.jpg
WESTERN Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade has forecast a fierce backlash over the introduction of the new rule that penalises rushed behinds with a free kick.
The rule is due to be trialled in the NAB Cup, but Eade said yesterday he had no doubt it would be introduced into the home-and-away season and could cost a team victory.
Eade said he was "totally against the new rule" and has great concerns about its potential impact on the outcome of games. "It's just a complete over-reaction," he said. "It's like stealing a loaf of bread and being sent off as a convict to the other side of the world — the penalty doesn't fit the crime."
The Bulldogs play Essendon next week in Darwin in the opening round of the pre-season competition and Eade said the club would "work with it and see how we go", but predicted a storm of controversy to flow from the new rule.
"For just pushing the ball over a line you can give a goal to the opposition — I don't see how that fits," he said. Goalsneak Jason Akermanis, who spent time playing in defence last season, has also expressed concern. "I understand the AFL's concerns about rushed behinds, but rushed behinds are only really an issue in a couple of games, it's not a big facet of the game," he said.
"I don't understand why there is continually knee-jerk reactions to lots of stuff in the game today. Our game doesn't need to keep changing."
A spate of rushed behinds in last year's grand final highlighted the issue, which also came to light earlier in the season when Richmond's Joel Bowden took the ball over the line twice in the dying stages of a game against Essendon.
The Hawks posted 11 rushed behinds in the grand final and the average number of rushed behinds per game has jumped from 3.9 five years ago to more than six now. But Eade said the league's response was excessive and expects "a lot of noise to be made" if the penalty results in a team losing a game, or worse, a final.
Hawthorn defender Campbell Brown approves of the controversial rule being trialled in pre-season fixtures, but wants a longer trial period.
"Hopefully they give us a couple of years before they bring it into the regular season," Brown said on the Hawthorn website.
Brown supported the league's decision, saying "I don't think they're clamping down too much", but said players would need more time to adapt to the rule.
"It took a while for players to get used to the hands-in-the-back law and there was a lot of argument from the back line.
"Now, after it's been in for a couple of years, we've learned to adapt to it and you've just got to try and come up with other ways to stop your opponent."
Eade supported the introduction of substitutes on the interchange bench.
"You can probably cope with (losing) one player, but if you lose two, with the amount of rotations and pace of the game, it does put a strain on the players," he said