I read today that they are introducing a new rule (or really a new interpretation)
■ Not punishing players for high contact against an opponent if they were going for the ball, or if the contact was beyond their control.To me this seems like a good start, but I don't think it goes far enough. I'm not sure whether a rule change or an interpretation change is required but I say if you've got the ball you should be fair game for any clean hit. If you're carrying the ball someone should be able to pick you up and dump you on your arse! Basically they need to change the interpretation of a legal hit to basically cover what you can do in a game of Rugby Union (I say Union because I dislike shoulder charges in League that seem to be more aimed at maiming than stopping a players momentum).
The off the ball rules are good as they stand and probably don't need to be changed, just ball in hand tackling could be intensified. And for all the naysayers that say you don't know where the tackle is coming from like you do in League and Union then I challenge you to go out and play a game of Union or League you don't always know where the tackle is coming from but if you have the ball you expect to get tackled, its that simple! Further to the point, there is a lot of off the ball stuff in AFL where you don't know where the hip check is coming from and all the players seem to handle that pretty well.
The AFL purists won't like the change, but it would make the game more compelling to the brethren from North of the border.
From a game theory perspective, this rule change you're proposing is far more wide-ranging than you might realise. It's hard to tell whether the rule change would allow the game to function as it does currently. That is, it could stop the kind of jumping around that you currently see in AFL, as well as reduce the number of kicks -- if you're worried about someone charging into you you're not gonna want to do that a metre in the air, and neither are you going to risk losing possession. Passes, too, might end up working differently.
ReplyDeleteIf you look at games where tackling is allowed, you can see the more relaxed they are about it, the less fluid the game becomes, from League / Union to American football, where you have "plays" with well defined boundaries. I think AFL risks losing some of the fluidity with the change you're proposing. Then again, you've definitely played more of both sports, and I'm just thinking out loud here.
It is definitely worth taking into consideration the changes in the fluidity of the game, which is one of the prime draws of AFL. As for tackling in the air it is outlawed in everything except NFL, where pretty much anything goes in the tackles and I expect the same would apply in AFL the only in air contest would have to be directed at the ball and not the player.
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