Having seen it in action tonight and really taken it in for the first time, I think this is quite possibly the stupidest and most poorly thought through rule change the AFL has ever come up with ..... which is saying a lot given the AFL's history of stupid and poorly thought through rule changes.
What they don't seem to have considered is this. If the player awarded the initial free and fifty is a faster runner than the player on the mark, then the player with the free can simply run up the rear end of the player on the mark and get another 50. I saw late in the game that McVeigh had clued into this and tried precisely this tactic but wasn't quite quick enough to carry it out. But mark my words - this rule is just awful and will be revoked within 2 seasons. It is just so open to abuse and imposes a penalty that is grotesquely out of proportion with the "crime" (in fact, it imposes a monstrous penalty even when there isn't a crime).
I'm beginning to think I might join Boddo in giving up on this crap. It just isn't enjoyable any more.
Bookmarks