Hayley Kirk: The rules are… There ‘aint no rules…
The rules are… There ‘aint no rules… actually I lie there are rules, there’s a whole book of them in fact sitting pretty on a shelf at the AFL headquarters high up in that ivory tower. I just love saying that line from Grease, you know the one when they are about to race at Thunder road. Racing for Pinks? See a penny pick it up? I gave good and fair notice of my movie line habits.
Anyhooooooooooooo…
What’s this blog about?
Drum roll please…NAB Cup!
NAB Cup is the AFL ‘s pre-season competition and following a split round the first games have come and gone in a flash of Gordon. The idea is that the winner progresses on in the competition and the losing teams bow out but continue to play each other in regional areas. This in turn promotes the AFL and takes the game to parts of Australia that wouldn’t normally get to see such elite, live action locally. One NAB Challenge match will be held in Yea, roughly 140km north-east of Melbourne and close to towns severely affected by last year's Black Saturday bushfires.
A teeny-tiny trip down memory lane shows the sponsors of previous pre-season competitions:
• Golden Fleece Night Premiership (1965–69)
• Radiant Night Premiership (1970)
• Heinz Night Premiership (1971)
• Amco-Herald Cup (1977–78)
• Escort Championships (1979–82)
• Sterling Cup (1983-84)
• Foster's Football Cup (1985–86)
• National Panasonic Cup (1987)
• Panasonic Cup (1988-89)
• Foster's Cup (1990–94)
• Ansett Australia Cup (1995–2001)
• Wizard Home Loans Cup (2002–05)
• NAB Cup (2006-)
There has been much criticism of the pre-season competition being a waste of time, that no team takes it seriously and even to the extent that teams in the past have been accused of deliberately losing games. Umm-ma!
The game is essentially the same as it is during the season proper, however in the NAB Cup new rules have been introduced on experimental grounds. These new rules are being tried and tested to see whether or not they work. If they do work out they could possibly progress to the ‘real’ game in future seasons.
Trial rules that you may notice during the pre-season include:
1. The ability for players to decide whether advantage should be paid for free kicks;
2. An extension of the 'no go zone' behind the umpire at bounce-downs;
3. A holding the ball free kick to be paid against any player who drags the ball underneath his opponent;
4. The ability for boundary umpires to pay free kicks for holding at stoppages and high-contact infringements.
Other rules that help to make up NAB Cup law that are not a part of the game during the season proper include:
a) Nine (9) point ‘super’ goal for a goal kicked outside the 50m goal circle;
b) Ball-ups, instead off bounce-downs, will continue at stoppages around the ground;
c) Teams will continue to have access to six interchange players and two substitutes;
d) Rookie-listed players are allowed to play pre-season matches without being raised on to senior lists.
AFL officials say that the new laws are introduced to help the umpires "get it right" and to assist the AFL with improving areas of the game. This is debatable on some, if not most, counts!
So who decides on what new rules should be experimented with?
The AFL has a Laws of the Game Committee. Sounds all very proper and hoity-toity doesn’t it? Evokes visions of robes and men smoking cigars while contemplating their next move in an extremely important game of egos. The Laws of the Game Committee is made up of an AFL official who is the Chairman, other officials, past coaches and past players, with only one current player making up this important team of people. The committee looks at the evolution of the AFL game for a few years, trials new rules in the NAB Cup if possible, and then if they look like they're going to help the game then they, the committee, make the recommendation to the AFL Commission. The commission is the body that okay’s or vetoes rules, but the rules committee makes the initial recommendations.
Some times it can be extremely frustrating for players and coaches when it comes to new rules or new rule interpretations. This is when the ruling is not officially a new rule but it is left up to the ‘interpretation’ of the umpires. So that’s a whole lot of different ways one rule can be perceived let alone multiple rules carrying the ‘interpretation’ attachment. Gee willickers!
Nathan Buckley (Collingwood and AFL legend) controversially resigned from the Laws of the Game committee in 2007 due to an apparent disagreement with the frequent changes made by the committee, citing that he did not want his name to be associated with the changes.
The game of AFL is a fast-paced combination of speed, athleticism, skill and physical toughness. Let’s hope they don’t take away the physical toughness aspect of the game like tackling and defense. Messing too much with what is already a great game could see AFL evolve into a male version of the national netball competition!
Keep an eye out for these fantastic battles and hostilities playing out over the weekend:
Fri 26 Feb. Hawthorn vs Western Bulldogs 7.40pm Etihad Stadium
Sat 27 Feb. West Coast Eagles vs Port Adelaide 5.10pm (Perth time)
Sat 27 Feb. St Kilda vs Sydney Swans 7.10pm Etihad Stadium
Sun 28 Feb. North Melbourne vs Femantle 5.10pm Etihad Stadium
So after all that information overload what are your thoughts on rule changes, experimentations and introductions? Not just in AFL but in any professional sport you love, love, LOVE? Is it positive for the game? Should current players and coaches have more input into the process?
Oh the politics of the elite! Will it ever change? That may just have to be run by the Laws Committee!
Hayley Kirk
Also known as the lady-who-is-looking-for-a-new-sport-to-try-and-can’t-believe-Easter-eggs-are-on-sale-already-arghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!
Fast Fact
Former Prime Minister John Howard once suggested that the only job in public life more important than his own was that of Australia’s cricket captain.
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Nice to read another blog from you. Thanks for the rule info watched
on the weekend and now the whole 9pts for a super goal makes
sense. Thanks Hayley look forward to the next blog.
OH NO!!!! The 9 pt 'SUPER' goal cost the swans :o(
Thanks for the post. Very informative. I guess they've got to give new rules a whirl sometimes and try new things out, across all sports. Makes sense for it to happen in pre-season comps.
Will watch the NAB cup with renewed interest and knowledge now. Thanks again.
Px
Love the 'trip down memory lane' list. So interesting to see who has historically sponsored the pre-sason cup. Fascinating!
I do get the blahs when rule changes are petty, and the umps get them tied into a tight bundle and won't let go. the game is now so fast that they will have to consider allowing only umps of a high CORRECT decision making ability to be in charge. that would be a problem. Eight games a week x three field umpires scattered from one side of the continent to the other, and these umps are not full time, they have proper jobs during the week...... Will never have enough available. I knew the game was in a bit of strife when I said "bring back Goldspink!". Fast is good. Over the top fast is not. We will burn the boys out. Not exactly Unhappy Jan, but perhaps Getting a Bit Uncomfortable Jan is more exact.