Shepherding off the mark

[SquirrelGrip]

So this year we now have a 10m protective area rather than 5. But last week every time Hawthorn had either a free kick or a mark, they always had a teammate ready to shepherd away the man on the mark to free up the man with possession. They've done it for the last five years (http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/blindsiding-the-man-on-the-mark-is-becoming-a-blight-on-game-writes-mark-robinson/news-story/425102bbe49525b603b02c90ee5849df) but this year I thought we might see some change.

What can be done to strategically prevent this from happening, plus is it legal? They do it every single time!!

[F'scary]

I reckon that we employ similar tactics. When it works, the player with the ball gains significant metreage past the mark and possibilities for breaking zone defences open up. However, if it doesn't work, that's two players lagging behind the play. Like anything on the field, you have to be good enough to execute the move properly. In the first two games, our opponents tried it a few times with embarrassing results, if I recall correctly.

[jeemak]

I hate it, and it flies in the face of the protected area rule.

Whether a team gets an advantage from it is up for debate. With free possession you're giving away an extra resource that could be useful elsewhere to gain only a few yards that would have most likely been gained anyway by having him mind the man on the mark.

For me it's not within the spirit of the game either, but that was more of an issue when players weren't prepared for it to happen when Collingwood started going it in 2010.