TOPIC:

There is momentum growing in AFL circles about introducing a zone or zones to counteract congestion, which is now becoming a seriously ugly blight on the code. I have heard all the reasons for congestion and why it has become so bad. And I have not heard that many people blame the coaches. The fault squarely lays with the coaches whom many are almost 100% defensively focussed. And the result is the breakdown of a sport that was once the most fluent & exciting to watch. It certainly isn't now in my opinion.

Many traditionalists will berate the idea of a zone, but over history the game has evolved with rules to improve the game like the out-of-bounds rule and the introduction of the diamond and now the square. The 50 metre arc was bought in originally for commentators to gauge the distance from goals. Now it looks like it will be used to zone at least 2 players from each side at all times. I don't see this as a completely bad thing and trialling it during the pre-season wont hurt. The amount of time teams break forward, look up, and see nobody up ahead to kick to is ridiculous. They then are forced to kick or handpass backwards while they wait for numbers to get up the ground. This is because coaches are flooding and it makes for an ugly spectacle. Having two players up forward will also possibly encourage teams to have more players up the ground in search of that extra link going forward, and it may lesson congestion around the stoppages or boundary throw-ins.

There is also talk of making the last person to touch the ball out of bounds gets a free kick against them, encouraging players to use the cooridor more often and therefore allowing more flow on football, lessening congestion.

Its a hard one but because of the coaches extreme negative attitudes, the sport is really at the crossroads. The game last Friday between Richmond & Carlton was the worst game Ive ever seen. If anyone took someone to that game who had never seen AFL football before, they would never come back again, it was that bad. I think a few subtle things can be trialled in the pre-season. We cant sit here and completely stamp our feet and say "leave the game alone". That is irresponsible and we need to look at some things that may free up the game. Otherwise generations will be lost to this scrum-fest. It is worth looking at I think.

No way. Its not netball. The way to stop congestion is to cut back on interchanges. Limit to 15 per qtr or a mandatory off for 10 minutes. The game is too quick. Tinkering has ruined the game. Notice that chopping the arms prevents a smaller player getting past to spoil. When my father played ( mid last century) he was told to raise his knee to stop opposition taking him out when marking. Also players kicking in after the ball is out out bounds. Once they cross the boundary it should be play on. The MCG, SCG & WACA have boundaries shortened so players dont hit the fence. They could go back further .

I say get rid of the 50 metre lines...a subtle change that may introduce a bit more guess work for the defensive structures and zones...I know at amateur level we worked off the 50mtr line with our set ups and not the square because it was all about restricting access to opposition getting a kick within 50m which is the kicking distance limit for 90% of all footballers. Totally agree on reducing interchange which has become farcical. Don't see marathon runners getting time outs just because they are tired.

In most sports the changes to the rules have the aim of improving the sport as a spectacle. Hockey is a prime example where most of the changes have had a positive affect. Where it has been found to have a negative impact the rule is revoked. Aussie Rule law changes and changes to interpretation in the main have had a negative impact on the sport as a spectacle in the last 10-15 years. Compounding this is the directive to the umpires to urge the players to knock the ball out rather than blow the whistle and throw the ball up.

Here is my solution to the problem and doesn't involve players wearing bibs. Get rid of the prior opportunity rubbish. Pay free kicks for holding the ball and holding the man when they are there. When a pack forms of 4-6 players and a free kick is not awarded, blow the whistle and throw the ball up rather than keep urging the players to knock it out. The longer they take to throw the ball up the more players congregate and the more difficult it is to clear the ball from the immediate vicinity and hence the greater likelihood of secondary and tertiary throw ups.

swan42 wrote: Here is my solution to the problem and doesn't involve players wearing bibs. Get rid of the prior opportunity rubbish. Pay free kicks for holding the ball and holding the man when they are there. When a pack forms of 4-6 players and a free kick is not awarded, blow the whistle and throw the ball up rather than keep urging the players to knock it out. The longer they take to throw the ball up the more players congregate and the more difficult it is to clear the ball from the immediate vicinity and hence the greater likelihood of secondary and tertiary throw ups.

I agree with this, the umpires need to be 100% stringent on it. At the start of the year they were red hot on holding the ball, now as per usual they start to relax it and everyone is confused. And as you say it creates congestion. Simplifying the game might be the solution, as the AFL over the years have un-simplified everything. The AFL have been their own worst enemy by endless tinkering of a sport that didn't need any of it.

And yes, the umpires dick around too long in the ball ups. They need to grab that ball and just ditch it straight up like they did in the old days. Players will quickly get the message and it doenst allow them to match up or create a bottle neck.

But I would like to see at the very least a FULL FORWARD stay at FULL FORWARD. That would be a breath of fresh air to always see at least 1 player in the forward line or goal square. The sport needs that. Having 36 players at one end is disgusting. Like a kicker in the NFL, the AFL needs to go back to that old adage of a Full Forward being specialised and it will actually make the development of the Full Forward position grow. We will start to see big bags of goals again, which was once the reason we went to the footy.

Some real interesting points posted - well done

The AFL and the Umpires are the reason we have what we have now. It is simple they decided some years back that 70% of infringements against the laws of the game would no longer result in free kicks, to make matters worse they have directed the umpires to make sure they have only 30-35 free kicks in a match and tell the umpires it is up to them which ones to pay and which ones not to.
We have got to a point where the rules no longer apply and this is the reason we have ended up with all the congestion because we never paid the free kick that was there and just said play on. If the free kicks are paid then the game will move and spread quicker.

Since the call of people ducking and dropping their knees came in we are now seeing a huge amount of head high tackles per game and no free kick for the infringement. Players bending over to pick up the ball are not even given one step to stand up and are now deemed to be leading with their head. The onus was taken off the tackler and put on to the ball carrier to not be tackled high? How insane can one be to do that.

What happened to the Holding the man rule? There must be 30-40 infringements every game of this rule yet it is never paid, why has one rule just been decided to not pay?

Blokes first to the ball are still being penalised which is against every instinct of our game.

And the deliberate out of bounds rule is a joke, name me another sport when you can be penalised for kicking the ball in your teams direction? If a player is in trouble he should be able to kick the ball 30m down the line and if it goes out then so be it. It is very good defensive play, why do they want it that it must be that I must give it back to my opponent?

Changing the interchange won't do anything to fix stoppages, paying the free kicks will. Why do people care how many interchanges there are anyway? Does anyone on here actually count and watch the interchange during a game??

Same with free kicks, I want all infringements paid as they once were, yes umpires will still make mistakes but that has always happened. One thing I know is that I have never left a game of footy in my life and I can go back to the 70's and 80's and walked out saying there was to many free kicks. No one cares as long as the rules are applied to the sport.
Currently the rules are not being applied. That is the problem.

Good post Jardine on a serious topic. Something needs to be done. I don't like seeing our game turned into rugby. It is all the coaches fault and Ross Lyon is one of the main culprits. It is caused by the dreaded press. As soon as the ball is at one end the defenders of that side then "press" up to the centre or beyond ,in some cases. Their direct opponents follow them and hence we are left with no players in one half of the field.
I believe limiting interchange may help but I think we may have to bring in some form of zone rule to at least keep a couple of players up one end. One thing is for sure, the coaches won't do anything unless they are forced to. People like Lyon don't care about how the game looks.

There is a far easier no-brainer - enforce the rule that there must be a minimum of 6 players from each side behind the centre square lines at all times (in other words no closer than the CHF/CHB line)

One designated ruckman at all bounce/throw ups with two other players as the ruck rovers / rovers - all other players must be 25m away from that contest

There's two big areas clearly understood

anchorman wrote: Gee someone kicking Ross Lyon how unusual. Funny how Fremantle were so smooth and free early in the season. Kicking goals etc, then all of a sudden the other sides close them down by causing scrimmages and the game stops. Yes it is Ross Lyon to blame. If you are going to talk about the problem don't make stupid comments like that.
For mine the way to stop the congestion is for the umpires to pay free before the scrimmage. If you pay free early, the packs wont form. It is simple. If a pack looks like forming pay a free, god knows there are plenty they can pay even in early stages of a scrimmage.

Alas Anchorman, what if there are no frees to be paid, do the "invent one?"

Problem is the more blokes ya have around the ball the great % of getting it ( which is the idea of any ball game). So what brave coach is going to drop numbers off where the ball is and give up possession??? Its a problem i dont know how it can be soved all the time you can have 18 players being around the ball, if its allowed.

It is the coaches not the umpires, as Cesspit has made clear. At junior level you are taught by coaches to play position; once you get to League football they teach you all this other rubbish, which is not Aussie Rules. It is like watching an inferior version of soccer or Rugby because there is no off-side rule.

It will be stopped over time if Fremantle keep losing by 72 points and Roos ends 20 years of coaching with just one flag.