When I'm King...

[Sockeye Salmon]

In another thread I solved all the AFL's fixturing problems in about 5 minutes.

My next AFL ****-up that I have to fix is the rules committee.

Step 1 - Kill Kevin Bartlett and his mates (except Luke Darcy obviously).
Hopefully this will prevent volunteers if they ever try to bring it back at some stage in the future.

Step 2 - Abolish the stupid 'hands in the back' and 'chopping the arms' rules.
If they actually give backmen the chance to defend, coaches might not have to put 15 blokes in the D50 to try to stop a goal. Give blokes under 6' 5" the chance to be a backman if they're good enough.

Step 3 - Abolish the quick kick-in rule.
Encourages rushed behinds and rewards the bloke who couldn't be bothered chasing his opponent and is now standing on his own on the wing.

Step 4 - Don't pay a mark from a backwards kick in the defensive half of the ground.
Nothing more infuriating than watching sides waste everyones time. I can hear Mike's voice now 'they should pick them up, yada, yada'. Let them kick it to each other if no-one picks them up but let's introduce some element of risk by calling 'play on' when they do.

Step 5 - Don't ever bring in other stupid rules like supergoals, playing on off the goalpost or limiting the number of interchanges.
Every time they bring in a gimmick they chip away at the fabric of the game and cheapen it a bit.

[mjp]

Agree
Agree mostly - as long as the umpires actually pay in the back free kicks. Chopping the arms rule is a disgrace.
Disagree (A lot - waiting for some stager in a hat to wave a flag? What a joke.)
Agree. I will say that they should pick them up...but I also think backwards kicks starting outside the forward 50m area should be play on.
Agree. But you have compromised yourself by listing point '4' - or is the king not held up to the same standards as everyone else?

[katemeehan]

Step 6- Players like Fraser Gehrig should play with a paper bag over their heads

[Mantis]

Step 6- Players like Fraser Gehrig should play with a paper bag over their heads

The bloke as your avatar isn't exactly a good looking bloke.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Agree. But you have compromised yourself by listing point '4' - or is the king not held up to the same standards as everyone else?

Duh. Of course not.

[bornadog]

sorry, don't agree with step 4, pick up your man solves the problem. We did that to Adelaide at the MCG in 2006 and Adelaie lost.

[hujsh]

sorry, don't agree with step 4, pick up your man solves the problem. We did that to Adelaide at the MCG in 2006 and Adelaie lost.

I think if we want it gone then the VFL has shown us that step 4 will work. otherwise it will stay

[bornadog]

I think if we want it gone then the VFL has shown us that step 4 will work. otherwise it will stay

Everytime there is a rule change, the coaches find a way around it. Believe me , if step 4 above was introduced, there are a number of strategies the coaches will come up with and then the game will be changed again, for the worse as it will get uglier.

The game is in constant evolution as humans become bigger and faster. These old timers such as KB, Gerard Healy etc who keep calling for rule changes to take the game back to the 1980's style are dreaming. Leave the rules alone, let the game evolve as you can't stop it.

[LostDoggy]

Step 7 -- Introduce a 9 points supergoal for a place kick. This slows the game down, allows more ad breaks, which increases revenue and excitement and Grows the Product.

I like your step 4 immensely. Only because it will stop fans yelling out 'man up, man up, why don't they man up!'. Drives me batty.

[mjp]

Everytime there is a rule change, the coaches find a way around it. Believe me , if step 4 above was introduced, there are a number of strategies the coaches will come up with and then the game will be changed again, for the worse as it will get uglier.

Like what?

When the ball is kicked backwards, nothing changes - except for the fact that the player who is receiving the ball is immediately under pressure...perceived or otherwise. This would actively encourage the defending team to push up and cover - more chance of a turnover/positive play.

I am curious what the coaches would do to overcome this...the backwards kick would still happen - it is just less likely to be effective as a purely clock draining measure.

[bornadog]

Like what?

When the ball is kicked backwards, nothing changes - except for the fact that the player who is receiving the ball is immediately under pressure...perceived or otherwise. This would actively encourage the defending team to push up and cover - more chance of a turnover/positive play.

I am curious what the coaches would do to overcome this...the backwards kick would still happen - it is just less likely to be effective as a purely clock draining measure.

How about if a player knows they MUST kick forward, the opposition will flood forward of the player and ball movement will stagnate even further.

[Sockeye Salmon]

There would be no obligation to kick forwards. You can still kick backwards, it's just 'play on' when you do.

[mjp]

How about if a player knows they MUST kick forward, the opposition will flood forward of the player and ball movement will stagnate even further.

But there is no 'MUST'...it is simply that if they do, no mark will be paid.

If coaches have the chance to cause a turn-over close to goal, they will try and take it...

[bornadog]

But there is no 'MUST'...it is simply that if they do, no mark will be paid.

If coaches have the chance to cause a turn-over close to goal, they will try and take it...

The real issue for me is that we are changing the rule because the game has evolved and some people don't like it. I can't see the point of changing the game just because coaches have the tactic of chipping the ball around and playing posession footy. Just because people don't like this they call for a rule change. Every time there is a rule change, the game changes again, and not the way we think it is going to change.

As a coach mjp, surely you are constantly thinking how you can gain an advantage within the rules. You don't care how the game is played, your objective is to win whether its pretty footy or ugly footy. The guys that change the rules keeping wanting to counteract the coaches tactics all in the name of making the game more attractive as a spectacle, or making it more free flowing. When flooding was rampant a few years ago there were all sorts of cries to change the rules, thank god it didn't happen. As for kicking backwards, if the team that hasn't got the ball wants it, all they have to do is man up.

[Twodogs]

In another thread I solved all the AFL's fixturing problems in about 5 minutes.

My next AFL ****-up that I have to fix is the rules committee.

Step 1 - Kill Kevin Bartlett and his mates (except Luke Darcy obviously).
Hopefully this will prevent volunteers if they ever try to bring it back at some stage in the future.

Step 2 - Abolish the stupid 'hands in the back' and 'chopping the arms' rules.
If they actually give backmen the chance to defend, coaches might not have to put 15 blokes in the D50 to try to stop a goal. Give blokes under 6' 5" the chance to be a backman if they're good enough.

Step 3 - Abolish the quick kick-in rule.
Encourages rushed behinds and rewards the bloke who couldn't be bothered chasing his opponent and is now standing on his own on the wing.

Step 4 - Don't pay a mark from a backwards kick in the defensive half of the ground.
Nothing more infuriating than watching sides waste everyones time. I can hear Mike's voice now 'they should pick them up, yada, yada'. Let them kick it to each other if no-one picks them up but let's introduce some element of risk by calling 'play on' when they do.

Step 5 - Don't ever bring in other stupid rules like supergoals, playing on off the goalpost or limiting the number of interchanges.
Every time they bring in a gimmick they chip away at the fabric of the game and cheapen it a bit.

Nup-Seldom brings in bad rules, no matter what what all the nuff-nuffs think
Nup-It's not the only thing causing congestion of play and at least you see the occasional marking contest.
Nup-Why would we want to get rid of something that is to our advantage. If we do drop it I want us to get two goals a week headstart to compensate.
Maybe-I'm not that fussed about it but I have to give you something I suppose.
Agree-it's a simp-le game and complicationg it is stupid.





P.S.I wonder if everybody bitched and moaned about the out of bounds rule they bought 40 years ago or if everybody hated the new fangled boundary umpires at the turn of last century or including points in teams tally when the VFL started in 1897?