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  1. #1
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    Bulldog coach flags concerns over new rushed behind rule

    The Age
    Martin Boulton | February 6, 2009



    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
    FFC: Established 1883

    Premierships: AFL 1954, 2016 VFA - 1898,99,1900, 1908, 1913, 1919-20, 1923-24, VFL: 2014, 2016 . Champions of Victoria 1924. AFLW - 2018.

  2. #2
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    Re: Bulldog coach flags concerns over new rushed behind rule

    Totally agree, the rule is a joke and complete over reaction by the AFL. If this makes it to the main AFL season, then the game will change forever. The AFL created this by allowing the kick in from a behind to be taken immediately instead of waiting for the goal umpire to wave his flags. Players use a rush behind as a tactic to move the ball up the ground quickly.

    Rushed behind = Free shot at goal from only metres out
    FFC: Established 1883

    Premierships: AFL 1954, 2016 VFA - 1898,99,1900, 1908, 1913, 1919-20, 1923-24, VFL: 2014, 2016 . Champions of Victoria 1924. AFLW - 2018.

  3. #3
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    Re: Bulldog coach flags concerns over new rushed behind rule

    I agree too - over reaction by the powers that be. Is it obligatory for "them" to fiddle with the rules every year? Makes a defender's job even tougher. Not to mention the institution of booing the opposition when they rush a behind. Will we now have to cheer because of the advantage it will pay?

  4. #4
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    Re: Bulldog coach flags concerns over new rushed behind rule

    Yes, many other ways to fix this issue - such as not rewarding the team who rushes the behind. Ridiculous decision, and hopefully the NAB Cup proves it - and the rule can be forgotten.

  5. #5
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    Re: Bulldog coach flags concerns over new rushed behind rule

    I believe the AFL really go along without any aim for the game.
    This problem existed 150 years back! Now its an issue that needs to be dealt with immediately.
    Last edited by LostDoggy; 07-02-2009 at 11:19 AM.

  6. #6
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    Re: Bulldog coach flags concerns over new rushed behind rule

    Twodogs sent me a text this afternoon. He said he saw a bit of the Essendon practice match this afternoon and it was an uber-flood.

    Scrap the rules stopping the defenders defending.
    Scrap the quick kickouts from behinds.
    Reduce the interchange to 2 with 2 reserves.
    Keep 4 boundary umpires.

    Watch the flooding subside.

  7. #7
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    Re: Bulldog coach flags concerns over new rushed behind rule

    More rule changes,more grey areas. Complete overreaction with more confusion. Must have a rules commitee that justifies it's own existence

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    Re: Bulldog coach flags concerns over new rushed behind rule

    ridiculous! Dont want to lose the sight of a defender flying across a pack to punch the ball 20 rows back. Thats football!

    Its simple, the main issue has been the second rushed behind, simply make it a free kick if a player rushes directly after a behind kick in.

  9. #9
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    Re: Bulldog coach flags concerns over new rushed behind rule

    And this will breed more 'I am trying to rush it but not look like it' crap that we have with the intentional over the boundary law.

  10. #10
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    Re: Bulldog coach flags concerns over new rushed behind rule

    Quote Originally Posted by marcov View Post
    And this will breed more 'I am trying to rush it but not look like it' crap that we have with the intentional over the boundary law.
    Yes another joke rule that isnot interrupted how the orginal intention was.

    What is the difference between a player punching the ball out of bounds intentionally (no free) and a player scrapping on the ground, facing the boundary (or goal) with no where to go, and trying to pretend he doesn't want to take the ball out, but gets pinged.
    FFC: Established 1883

    Premierships: AFL 1954, 2016 VFA - 1898,99,1900, 1908, 1913, 1919-20, 1923-24, VFL: 2014, 2016 . Champions of Victoria 1924. AFLW - 2018.

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