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- 2,323
I know why they did it, but the AFL have very much created a rod for their own back in consistently harshly penalising the player over the ball.
They have contributed to a sharp decline in the wonderful beast that has been the hard-as-nails in-and-under ballwinner and, as a consequence, we don't really see enough players of the Platten & Williams ilk any more.
Its getting to the ludicrous point now where its not really worth a player taking possession of the football unless he's well clear of opposition players. Shouldn't we be encouraging the first-in playmaker, and not the player who is willing to just sit off and try to earn a soft free by stifling play?
Its also been very clear over the past two seasons that more and more players are becoming quite adept at surreptitiously pushing or pulling the loose football back under the grounded opponent to force the free from unwitting umpires.
On Sunday Lance Franklin drew criticism from NIRS commentators for opting to allow the ball to go out of bounds, rather than make the play, when isolated wide among a nest of 4 West Coast defenders. Why would you? In that situation you're just risking getting gang tackled and turning over the free (the prior opportunity qualifier gets looser by the week) instead of slowing down the play to allow team mates to get to the area and square away the contest.
Older isn't always better, but on this issue I can sense some old-timer players rolling endlessly in their graves.
They have contributed to a sharp decline in the wonderful beast that has been the hard-as-nails in-and-under ballwinner and, as a consequence, we don't really see enough players of the Platten & Williams ilk any more.
Its getting to the ludicrous point now where its not really worth a player taking possession of the football unless he's well clear of opposition players. Shouldn't we be encouraging the first-in playmaker, and not the player who is willing to just sit off and try to earn a soft free by stifling play?
Its also been very clear over the past two seasons that more and more players are becoming quite adept at surreptitiously pushing or pulling the loose football back under the grounded opponent to force the free from unwitting umpires.
On Sunday Lance Franklin drew criticism from NIRS commentators for opting to allow the ball to go out of bounds, rather than make the play, when isolated wide among a nest of 4 West Coast defenders. Why would you? In that situation you're just risking getting gang tackled and turning over the free (the prior opportunity qualifier gets looser by the week) instead of slowing down the play to allow team mates to get to the area and square away the contest.
Older isn't always better, but on this issue I can sense some old-timer players rolling endlessly in their graves.
