The AFL has made a mid-season alternate to the contentious maintaining the ball rule later weeks of backlash from coaches and fanatics.
AFL hierarchy have directed umpires to snip the ‘cheap while’ feature of the rule of thumb later a territory of coaches expressed indecision at how the regulation used to be being applied.
“It has become clearer throughout the season that in discharging their duty of care whilst executing a tackle, tacklers are positively electing not to take tackled players to ground in the tackle or are generally doing so in a reasonable way including by not using excessive force,” the AFL stated in a observation on Wednesday.
“As a consequence, we are seeing players hold onto the ball slightly longer and challenging the definition of ‘reasonable time’.
“Our umpires are sunny at the interpretation of maintaining the ball and it is still a focal point of umpire training every pace.
“We want to ensure our clubs, coaches and players understand the rules and how they are being officiated.”
Carlton’s Michael Voss, Gold Coast’s Damien Hardwick and Geelong’s Chris Scott are amongst coaches within the hour pace to precise indecision concerning the rule.
Hardwick, later the Suns’ loss to Carlton, stated the range of while taken to pay maintaining the ball sovereign kicks used to be making a “very, very dangerous situation”.
The triple-premiership schoolmaster stated umpires had to “pay a free kick or blow the whistle”.
“What I will say is 131 effective tackles today and there were four holding the balls for both sides,” he stated post-game.
“We’ve just got to get on top of this because the players certainly owe each other a duty of care, but as umpires we’ve got to blow the whistle earlier.
“For the reason that truth is that they’re hanging gamers in a actually compromising place that they might get harm, and we don’t need that.
“So we’ve got to look at it. We’ve got to coach it.
“I understand it’s extremely crisp, however from a participant’s condition and wellbeing viewpoint, we’ve simply were given to build certain for the advantage of the sport that we glance later the gamers.”
Voss said after that game he would follow up with the AFL while Geelong’s flag-winning coach Scott added his voice to a chorus of concern.
“The gamers are in a shockingly tricky place on the life,” he told Fox Footy on Monday night.
“The tribunal have obviously stated that for those who pin the ball service’s arm … (and a) head hits the garden, that’s a perilous take on.
“It’s a real coaching challenge at the moment.”
AAP
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