Round 6: the other games. ANZAC round.

[dejavoodoo44]

Let's hope that Charlie is the only Cameron kicking a bag tonight. Up to 7 with most of the final quarter to go.

And Taylor looks to have done his hamstring: so highly likely to be out of our match with the Giants next week.

[mcs]

Let's hope that Charlie is the only Cameron kicking a bag tonight. Up to 7 with most of the final quarter to go.

And Taylor looks to have done his hamstring: so highly likely to be out of our match with the Giants next week.

What about Charlie's goal of the year contender. Absolutely brilliant - he was on fire today.

On that note Campbell last week was robbed by some flukey arse goal from an Essendon player for goal of the week.

Don't wish injuries on anyone, but happy GWS will be down troops too - we need plenty of help given our injury list, and overall meddling form so far this year.

[dejavoodoo44]

Suns fans might have felt briefly optimistic about getting their season back on track, with a thrashing of North. But no, Miller is now sitting on the bench with a leg brace and crutches.

[dejavoodoo44]

Even if you don't really care who wins, you still have to enjoy two sets of rabid fans going full voice at a packed MCG.

[i'm-uninformed2]

Even if you don't really care who wins, you still have to enjoy two sets of rabid fans going full voice at a packed MCG.

Brilliant, ain’t it.

[dejavoodoo44]

Brilliant, ain’t it.

Although I probably would have preferred an Essendon win, you've got to hand it to Collingwood the way the just keep on running.

And one thing that I noticed, is that Ginnivan doesn't seem to be flagrantly staging for frees any more. So, kudos to him if he keeps that up.

[Nico]

That was a hell of a good game of footy. The Daicos boys are simply outstanding. This was a great example of the value of winning clean centre clearances. I don't think Essendon won more than one in the last quarter.

[chalbilto]

Watched First Crack the other night as well as Footy Classified last night and both David King & Damian Barrett highlighted the number of throws by the Bulldogs against Fremantle and also Barrett showed some throws by the Dogs in the 2016 grand final against the Swans. I hope all the umpires have been made aware of these throws and pull up these blatant acts and give free kicks against the Dogs players.

[dejavoodoo44]

Not sure why they couldn't have done that five or six years ago, but I suppose it's better late than never.

There's been some really blatant throwing around the competition lately and the ones that infuriate me the most, are those where it seems to be physically impossible to get a legal handball away, but they're still not punished. There's generally two main types. Firstly, there's the type where the player tries unsuccessfully to fend off a front on tackle, which leads to one arm being trapped between them and the opponent, and the ball carrying arm well away from that arm. Somehow, the one handed sling that ensues from that position is often let go. The other one is where a player has been tackled to the ground, and they've used one arm to break their fall. Even though that arm is then trapped under their own body weight and their opponent's, a few umpires apparently think that a player can get a legal handball away with their one free arm.

Totally infuriating and it tends to disadvantage hard tackling, high pressure teams.

[liz]

The competition has developed an expectation that if you are on the ground with the ball, you should "knock it out". Those knocks are never legal disposals.

In contrast, if you're on your feet and tackled and "knock the ball out" (aka dropping it when it's impossible to get away a legal handball or kick), you will usually get pinged for HTB even if you had zilch, nada, zero prior opportunity.

Although this is an inconsistency, it probably doesn't bother me as much as the blatant throws that happen when the disposer isn't being tackled - the brief glancing of a fist to the ball as it is propelled by the holding hand, and especially those where the ball is essentially tossed back over the disposer's head. Those have little to do with rewarding the tackler, though something to do with rewarding high pressure teams.

Something related that is bugging me this season is that players are being given an inordinate amount of time to dispose of the ball after being tackled. I get that the umpires want to allow players the chance to break a tackle. But in a recent season (could have been last year; might have been 2021) Brad Scott - then Head of Football - announced that they were going to be stricter on the requirement of players to immediately dispose of the ball on being tackled. They seem to have completely backtracked on that in season 2023. If a player is clearly in the act of trying to break a tackle, I don't have an issue with them being given a chance, with the proviso that if they fail, it should be HTB. But often a player's momentum has been stopped and the tackle has clearly stuck, and they are still allowed to rotate 360 degrees, sometimes 720 degrees, before dishing the ball off. All the time with their arms free to legally dispose of the ball.

[Blood Fever]

We got hammered against Geelong but there were a number of times during the game where we tackled a Geelong opponent and they were given an 'inordinate' amount of time to get rid of the ball. It was like watching a rugby leage game where brute strength prevails when there is a tackle. Agree with Liz that HTB should be blown earlier. Not in the spirit of Aussie Rules.

[Ludwig]

The competition has developed an expectation that if you are on the ground with the ball, you should "knock it out". Those knocks are never legal disposals.

In contrast, if you're on your feet and tackled and "knock the ball out" (aka dropping it when it's impossible to get away a legal handball or kick), you will usually get pinged for HTB even if you had zilch, nada, zero prior opportunity.

Although this is an inconsistency, it probably doesn't bother me as much as the blatant throws that happen when the disposer isn't being tackled - the brief glancing of a fist to the ball as it is propelled by the holding hand, and especially those where the ball is essentially tossed back over the disposer's head. Those have little to do with rewarding the tackler, though something to do with rewarding high pressure teams.

Something related that is bugging me this season is that players are being given an inordinate amount of time to dispose of the ball after being tackled. I get that the umpires want to allow players the chance to break a tackle. But in a recent season (could have been last year; might have been 2021) Brad Scott - then Head of Football - announced that they were going to be stricter on the requirement of players to immediately dispose of the ball on being tackled. They seem to have completely backtracked on that in season 2023. If a player is clearly in the act of trying to break a tackle, I don't have an issue with them being given a chance, with the proviso that if they fail, it should be HTB. But often a player's momentum has been stopped and the tackle has clearly stuck, and they are still allowed to rotate 360 degrees, sometimes 720 degrees, before dishing the ball off. All the time with their arms free to legally dispose of the ball.

What bothers me the most is the inconsistency that persists around ball disposal. The rules seem to change from instance to instance and from week to week.

It's so bad, that I think it's just impossible to umpire disposal, and perhaps we would be better off if we eliminate the requirement to dispose of the ball by a handball action and allow throwing the ball. There will have to be some basis for when a tackle is sufficient to cause a turnover of possession, but the focus can be more definitive, although I am not sure what the requirements should be.

I know there will be a lot of resistance to changing one of the basics of the game, but I think it would benefit the game and certainly make he game faster.

[Blood Fever]

What bothers me the most is the inconsistency that persists around ball disposal. The rules seem to change from instance to instance and from week to week.

It's so bad, that I think it's just impossible to umpire disposal, and perhaps we would be better off if we eliminate the requirement to dispose of the ball by a handball action and allow throwing the ball. There will have to be some basis for when a tackle is sufficient to cause a turnover of possession, but the focus can be more definitive, although I am not sure what the requirements should be.

I know there will be a lot of resistance to changing one of the basics of the game, but I think it would benefit the game and certainly make he game faster.

Back in the day, VFA allowed the throw. It was the original Australian Rules competition. Maybe it was influenced by Rugby, not sure.