1 hour ago, biggestred said:

this. chuck it up around the ground the second the ump gets the ball in their hands.

Yup. Incentivises teams to have to cover more ground with less time to do so. If you get caught out with a 3 V 1 at a ball up for example, bad luck. The umpires shouldn’t be waiting for players IMO.

16 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

If it's out on the full it was a free anyway but if you elect to kick the ball you have taken control so if it goes out you are pinged.

The AFLW "last-touch rule" is a rule in the AFLW competition where a free kick is awarded to the opposing team if a player kicks or handballs the ball out of bounds, and it was the last player from their own team to touch the ball. This rule, which applies between the 50-meter arcs, aims to reduce stoppages and congestion, leading to a more free-flowing and higher-scoring game. If the last touch is unclear or contested, the umpire will throw the ball in instead of awarding a free kick

TBH it could be a lot tougher thus discouraging teams that hug the boundary line such as us !

Once again the AFL screws Melbourne!

so if a backman spoils a forward marking and ball goes out its a free cause he touched it last... or am I missing something

1 minute ago, gregdemon said:

so if a backman spoils a forward marking and ball goes out its a free cause he touched it last... or am I missing something

oh only kicks or handballs not so bad

Not particularly fussed about last touch. Most kicks and handballs that go directly out of bounds get called deliberate anyway. Might see an uptick in corridor footy but think teams will still default to going down the boundary towards contests when the ground is covered. Even if you turn it over it's just far easier to defend from that position.

What do they mean by "the sub rule" is dead. Will we have five active players on the bench or four?

Thanks

Ruckmen and pure inside contested mids are the huge losers from the last touch rule

Heaps less throw ins and contests

A huge change and not one I support.

We’ll see players sheparding the ball out of bounds and avoiding it to not be the last touch

5 hours ago, biggestred said:

this. chuck it up around the ground the second the ump gets the ball in their hands.

if you do this, then you probably have to drop the "nominated" ruck rule, which wouldn't be a bad idea. same with allowing 2nd man in. would add a bit more variety and fun to ball ups (and throw ins).

main thing to do also would be to disallow the grappling and wrestling of rucks

I can’t wait to see the downstream impact of this change and the numerous future rule changes it will lead to

Sure SANFL is a good sample size but it’s not been used in a professional sport before. It will get manipulated

Scenario - player kicks to teammate down the line.

oppo player corrals and stops the intended recipient from getting the ball without holding. ball rolls out. oppo gets free kick

should be a great spectacle

it works well

8 minutes ago, DubDee said:

Ruckmen and pure inside contested mids are the huge losers from the last touch rule

Heaps less throw ins and contests

A huge change and not one I support.

We’ll see players sheparding the ball out of bounds and avoiding it to not be the last touch

two more frees per game is the current estimate

it was not a huge change in the amount of boundary throw-ins per game in the sanfl when it was introduced ten years or so ago, and there's no reason to think it will be in the afl either

On the plus side - thank christ the sub rule is gone (again)

and the bounce should have been gone a long time ago. would work if the umps could actually do it

I'd really like to see players penalised for wrapping up an opponent after they have taken a clear mark. Happens way too often. I know it's tactical to hold up ball movement, but if the AFL is wanting better game flow it needs to be highlighted and removed.