Sawers gets jump on rules ruckus

[ScottH]

Sawers gets jump on rules ruckus

AFL umpires coach Rowan Sawers admitted to the Sydney Swans that on a number of occasions the umpires didn't get it right last weekend.

[peterh_oz]

He was talking about the rucks only tho.

And the non-taking-eyes-off-ball - there's nothing new about that. It has always been that if you looked at your opponent then your "primary objective" is not the ball therefore you would be pinged for shepherding in the contest when you jump in front of the opponent.

[sharp9]

That really surprised me (pleasantly) as it seemed that Jolly eas the one not watching the ball. but I gues iit could be that Darcy was charging in first meaning Jolly was taking his eyes away for his own safety. And it might explain Doyle not winning many hit-outs when he usually does. Let's hope so.

[liz]

Watching the Saints Dogs game last night you could see that Darcy was changing his centre bounce technique throughout the game, trying a few different approachs. On at least one occasion he started parallel to the line and seemed to have slightly crossed over it by the time that the ball was there to be contested. He managed to get his body between his opponent and the ball, much as players try to do at around-the-ground bounce-ups, and thus got a fairly easy tap.

He didn't get pulled up for it so I presume it is allowed, but it seems to represent a completely different type of contest to that we've traditionally seen at centre bounces.

It's also interesting some of the comments that have been made about the effect the rule will have. Everitt has suggested that it will make ruckmen obsolete and that teams might just as well have another midfielder in there. Roos, on the otherhand, has suggested that it will aid the really tall rucks, handing the likes of Sandilands tap-outs. And someone else (can't remember who - its another current ruckman) suggests that the brawn will be taken out of a ruckman's game but that they will have to become much smarter players.

[chammond]

Originally posted by liz
Watching the Saints Dogs game last night you could see that Darcy was changing his centre bounce technique throughout the game, trying a few different approachs. On at least one occasion he started parallel to the line and seemed to have slightly crossed over it by the time that the ball was there to be contested. He managed to get his body between his opponent and the ball, much as players try to do at around-the-ground bounce-ups, and thus got a fairly easy tap.

Yeah, I noticed that same thing when we played the Doggies . . . it was quite fascinating to watch the mind games in the centre bounces . . . obviously the Eade influence.

Although I thought that Jolly did pretty well against a ruckman who many rate as the best in the comp, he suffered because he rarely took the initiative and mostly just 'reacted' to Darcy's movements.

[Bayes30]

Originally posted by liz
And someone else (can't remember who - its another current ruckman) suggests that the brawn will be taken out of a ruckman's game but that they will have to become much smarter players.

So far, I've only seen those sorts of words from Brendan Gale of the AFLPA (Ex-Richmond) and Sam Newman.

It sounds good, in theory . . .