AFL chief Andrew Demetriou makes no apologies for more rule changes when fans are crying out for the game to left alone. Picture: Julie Kiriacoudis. Source: Herald Sun
ANDREW Demetriou yesterday delivered a raised middle figure to the majority of fans who urge the league to leave the game alone.
The screaming headlines today will be about the AFL Commission's decision to defer an 80-rotation cap for one more season.
But make no mistake, the cap is coming despite a torrent of outrage from coaches, players and medicos.
And while it has been postponed for a single season, in its immediate place are a flood of new rules and "tightened interpretations" - basically rule changes under another name.
In all there are nine changes, almost all of them with major consequences.
Yet Demetriou was far from apologetic yesterday.
Leave the game alone, the fans cry.
To paraphrase Demetriou's blunt reply: Get stuffed.
"(Rule) moratoriums are garbage," said Demetriou.
" We don't apologise for making changes. This nonsense that says we should put a moratorium in place for five years....They are not for our code."
Demetriou's point is valid - most of the changes made by the AFL have enhanced the game in recent years.
The head-over-the-ball changes protect players from concussion or worse; the sub rule allowed Geelong to lose James Podsiadly early yet still win the 2011 flag; video reviews have their flaws but increase accuracy.
But just as the delay in introducing a cap was a major slap in the face for the Laws of the Game Committee, so too will the newly introduced rules change the fundamentals of our game.
The adjudication surrounding the holding-the-ball rule is a huge shift.
Now there is a crackdown on players not making a genuine attempt to get rid of the ball, plus a free kick for dragging the ball back under an opponent, as well as a free kick against a player sitting or lying on an opponent they have just tackled.
How will three different yet linked "interpretations" of the rule affect tackling and the holding-the-ball rule?
God only knows.
The last of the league's tightened interpretations reduces the amount of time for kick-ins to "five or six" seconds, again a massive change to defensive strategies, 18-man defensive presses, and the ability to pin-point a teammate from defence.
But despite Demetriou lauding Sydney's Grand Final win as one of the best of all time, the AFL is determined to ease congestion and fatigue players, opening up the game as a contest.
Demetriou didn't have it his own way - only days after he said attacks on Sydney's cost-of-living allowance were a "knee-jerk" reaction, the Commission of which he is a member decided to review those allowances.
No one got exactly what they wanted yesterday - not Demetriou, not the players who get only a 12-month respite before the sub rule, and not football operations manager Adrian Anderson.
He said of the Commission's decision - "I think it's a fantastic process" - despite them knocking back the AFL recommendation.
Yet the clear loser is the punter in the bar, or live in the outer, or watching on telly, who believes every rule change is a step in the wrong direction.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
No apologies for more rule changes
Dengan url
http://caraseopemula.blogspot.com/2012/10/no-apologies-for-more-rule-changes.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
No apologies for more rule changes
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
No apologies for more rule changes
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar