Liz, I don't think that's right (and that's where the confusion arises I think). A player is never allowed to deliberately rush a behind IF THE UMPIRE JUDGES THAT IT WAS A DELIBERATE ACT (wording of law below).
The issue is: under what circumstances will an umpire judge the act to be deliberate? And like all the other subjective areas of AFL law this is where it becomes contentious.
The 'new' interpretation is not defining circumstances in which a player is allowed to deliberately rush a behind - that is illegal - it is a tightening of the conditions which the umpire will take into account in considering whether to judge the act was deliberate.
So it doesn't mean (for example) that because being within the goal square will be taken into account, that just because Mills was in the goal square he is allowed to rush a behind (which is what I think Mills thought).
"My reading (or listening) of the media discussion is that, had Picken been touching Mills, Mills would have been under actual physical pressure and thus would not have been penalised for rushing a behind."
It is very likely that the umpire would then have judged Mills was under immediate physical pressure and using the guidelines would have deemed Mills NOT to have deliberately rushed the behind. I suppose the underlying thinking is to give the player the benefit of the doubt that his sole objective was not to rush a behind, rather that he had no other alternative in defending the goal.
"But it would still have been a deliberate act."
Yes, probably so, but (in effect) the wording would allow the umpire to give Mills the benefit of the doubt.
"So Richardson's suggestion that it is black and white whether a rushed behind is deliberate isn't reflected in the current interpretation."
Richardson is saying that in reality the act of rushing a behind is either deliberate or not deliberate (the 'black and white' quote) and it would be better to leave the umpire to judge that (as he/she does on the deliberate OOB) without the guidelines of what to take into account. (The guidelines are being confused for allowable conditions.)
Then the player would know quite clearly that he must try to gather the ball, not deliberately rush through a behind. If in the act of defending, the ball does in fact go through for a behind then that is allowable under the laws if the umpire deems it not to have been a deliberate act with the only objective to rush a behind.
"And if we take it to extremes, how does one classify a ball touched on the goal line by a lunging defender? What is the defender's aim? To prevent a goal, but by the same token, it is to turn a goal into a rushed behind. So the defender's deliberate action gives rise to a rushed behind. How is that not deliberate?"
Well, if the umpire wanted to get lynched he might judge the lunging defender to be deliberately rushing a behind and give a free kick. But we know that an umpire wouldn't judge that to be a deliberate rushed behind under Law 15.8.1. It would be regarded as a legitimate act of defending.
Even before the new tightened conditions for the umpire to take into account, there was the contentious free kick awarded against Firrito last year. Firrito gathered the ball within the goal square, was tackled, was being rotated in the tackle, and handballed the ball through the goals. The umpire deemed it to be a deliberate rushed behind and penalised him - because there were other North players free in the square to whom (the umpire judged) Firrito could have handballed. That is, the umpire judged that Firrito had an alternative, legal action available to him.
Law 15.8.1
"A Free Kick shall be awarded against a Player from the defending Team who intentionally Kicks, Handballs or forces the football over the attacking Team�s Goal Line or Behind Line or onto one of the attacking Team�s Goal Posts."
"In assessing whether a Free Kick should be awarded under this Law, the field Umpire shall give consideration to:
(i) whether the Player had prior opportunity to dispose of the ball;
(ii) the distance of the Player from the Goal Line or Behind Line; and
(iii) the degree of pressure being applied to the Player."
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