Location of off the ball free kicks

[soupman]

I posted something similar to this on another forum, but interested in thoughts here to.

The Petrie free against us yesterday brought up what has long been a consistent annoyance for me regarding where a free kick is paid.

For those that are unaware what happened, after a goal was kicked by the Dogs but before the ball was bounced Petrie and Roughead got in a bit of push and shove, Petrie went to ground and the umpire paid him a free, which happened to be about 35m out on a slight angle and resulted in a relatively easy set shot and goal from a fairly minor incident (similar to the infamous Riewoldt free many prelims ago).

My issue is with the location of where the free is taken, as I don't believe it should be from where the incident occurred.

As it stands the free is paid where the incident occurred, unless where the ball lies is in a better spot, which results in the free being paid where the ball is. This means inherently the punishment is much more severe for a defender giving away a free than a forward:
-If a defender gives away the free, it's a freekick in the oppositions forwardline, therefore a set shot for free.
-If a forward gives away the free, it's a freekick to the defenders side, and therefore in the centre circle (to the ruckman) where the defenders team still has to manufacture a shot on goal somehow.

So two vastly different and inequal punishments for the exact same action, all dependant on where the incident happened to have occurred.

I believe the free should be paid where the ball is at the time of the offence, regardless of where the incident occurred. This punishes/compensates either team evenly and fairly, and doesn't unfairly punish a player because they play on the last line of defence. If the team receiving the free already has a mark freekick or unimpeded possession, then a 50m penalty is applied.

Ie: If it is an off the ball free kick to Team A, and it is either in team B's possession or a 50-50 ball (50-50 balls include when team A is being tackled or has no positive control of the ball), then it is a freekick to Team A where the ball lies. If it is an off the ball free kick to team A, and team A is in possession, regardless of how ( aside from the aforementioned 50-50 situations), it is their freekick and a 50m penalty.

This would only apply for off the ball incidents, if it happened as part of the play or a marking contest or anything like that normal rules apply, I just think with the present rules it is too heavily in the forwards favour and incentivises play acting on their behalf.

Interested to hear thoughts on this, because atm it is absolute bullshit that minor incidents can be so heavily punished.