Holding the Ball

[Wedgie]

At the start of the year we were told the SANFLs interpretation was to be more harsh on this rule to avoid stoppages.
First round or two this was evident.
Now in June it's gone the opposite way, have the SANFL changed their mind and did I miss the press release?
Players can now do 720 degree turns, drop it, pick it up, have a cup of tea and then go to ground clinging to the ball and not get pinged.
One North player yesterday got the ball, tried to take it through the West player only to have an awesome tackle applied to him which sent him backwards only to have the umpire call a ball up?
It was probably the most blatant holding the ball all day.
In round 1 if a player got touched with the ball it was holding the ball?

If nothing has changed do we blame the umpires it the umpires coaches?

[Spargo]

They were hot on it yesterday at the Bay.
Sturt's first two goals were from HTB decisions - the second one was a disgrace.
There were two other notable ones they received where they sweated off and waited for a Glenelg player to go in and get the ball before 2-3 jumped on top - no prior, no chance, yet they paid it again and again which only rewards the player second to the footy.
The standard of SANFL umpiring is a mile worse than the AFL.

[VALE PARK]

I thought the umpiring at Prospect yesterday was very good.
No complaints about holding the ball to me.
While the game is played this free kick rule will always be an issue.
Remember umpires make mistakes like players and they know the rules.
Speaking of player errors,I counted at least 10 player hand ball errors in the first quarter alone!

[Wolf Pack]

I thought the umpiring at Prospect yesterday was very good.
No complaints about holding the ball to me.
While the game is played this free kick rule will always be an issue.
Remember umpires make mistakes like players and they know the rules.
Speaking of player errors,I counted at least 10 player hand ball errors in the first quarter alone!

The umpiring was good???
Did you miss Middleton's (almost game saving) mark in the last qtr and the umpire called play on....
The umps had a shocker.
Then there was the tackle that Wedgie was talking about....

[blood bath]

At the start of the year we were told the SANFLs interpretation was to be more harsh on this rule to avoid stoppages.
First round or two this was evident.
Now in June it's gone the opposite way, have the SANFL changed their mind and did I miss the press release?
Players can now do 720 degree turns, drop it, pick it up, have a cup of tea and then go to ground clinging to the ball and not get pinged.
One North player yesterday got the ball, tried to take it through the West player only to have an awesome tackle applied to him which sent him backwards only to have the umpire call a ball up?
It was probably the most blatant holding the ball all day.
In round 1 if a player got touched with the ball it was holding the ball?

If nothing has changed do we blame the umpires it the umpires coaches?

Agree. I think the incident you are referring to was in the 3rd quarter when the north player (sorry I don't recall the name) tried to run through Daniel Webb who wrapped him up and even sent the north player backwards without legally disposing of the ball. Obviously my bias in umpiring calls goes to West, but I thought this was the most obvious free of the day!

[Wedgie]

At the start of the year we were told the SANFLs interpretation was to be more harsh on this rule to avoid stoppages.
First round or two this was evident.
Now in June it's gone the opposite way, have the SANFL changed their mind and did I miss the press release?
Players can now do 720 degree turns, drop it, pick it up, have a cup of tea and then go to ground clinging to the ball and not get pinged.
One North player yesterday got the ball, tried to take it through the West player only to have an awesome tackle applied to him which sent him backwards only to have the umpire call a ball up?
It was probably the most blatant holding the ball all day.
In round 1 if a player got touched with the ball it was holding the ball?

If nothing has changed do we blame the umpires it the umpires coaches?

Agree. I think the incident you are referring to was in the 3rd quarter when the north player (sorry I don't recall the name) tried to run through Daniel Webb who wrapped him up and even sent the north player backwards without legally disposing of the ball. Obviously my bias in umpiring calls goes to West, but I thought this was the most obvious free of the day!

Agreed, awesome tackle, right in the middle of the ground in full sight.

[SimonH]

The Sturt v Norwood match was a car-crash in this respect, where the umpires (after paying one or two 'controversial' ones earlier) had completely given up by the last quarter. A player took on the opponent, broke the tackle and then before disposing of the footy got caught again: ball up. Player had prior opportunity, was taken to ground, and just placed the ball down on the turf: play on. Endless players with or without prior opportunity just 'accepted the tackle' and didn't even pretend to be attempting to dispose of the ball: ball up. Player stood there holding the footy in one hand, holding a paintbrush with the other, painting a placard reading, 'Yes, I've had prior opportunity; no, I have no intention of releasing this footy when I'm tackled': ball up.

It's not about being one-eyed: same nonsense for both sides. The 'no HTB unless you've had possession of the ball for over 30 seconds and run the length of the ground with it plus had a good 15 seconds after tackling before you're brought to ground when you could have got rid of it but didn't' policy encourages mediocrity, particularly players who just 'accept the tackle', go to ground and wait for the whistle when they should be trying to keep the footy moving, it doesn't reward good tackles, and it produces endless stoppages. It's not about punishing the guy who goes to get the footy and rewarding the guys who sweat off him—if the ball collector is jumped on straight away and makes a real attempt to move it on, he's alright. Otherwise, time to get a wriggle-on with enforcing the law as it is/should be, because the SANFL umps have totally backslid.

[Booney]

Saw one late in the Blues/Legs game where Daw took the Struttie to ground after he took Daw on, the Struttie had one arm pinned, he shoveled the ball in front of himself and knocked it out off the ground. As much HTB as you can possibly be.

Saw one late in the Bloods/Bays game where the pack descended upon one Bay lad who had no chance, the umpire circled "AFL style" as stacks on the mill ensued and eventually paid HTB.

Terribly inconsistent.

[stampy]

the worst rule in football by a mile

[SimonH]

Bump.

Only a matter of time until the 'are we letting everyone accept the tackle, or are we pinging them AFL style?' great wheel of HTB roulette decided a game, and now it has. If the powers that be give a freak about the comp (dubious, I know) there needs to be a serious policy considered, spelled out and enforced for 2017.

[another grub]

Choose either way , just be consistant.

[Dutchy]

Looks to me that the 2 Norwood players jumping on top didn;t help the guy with the ball

[johntheclaret]

Looks to me that the 2 Norwood players jumping on top didn;t help the guy with the ball

Bit confusing that because it's a Bays player at the bottom of the pile and all the Bay's players that are appealing for something ??

[Magellan]

Looks like all those Bay players are Soundgarden fans...

[PatowalongaPirate]

There is a Norwood player at the bottom of the pack. He has the ball.

[mighty_tiger_79]

Fantastic effort 1 bay player vs 3 legs players.

[Big Phil]

There is a Norwood player at the bottom of the pack. He has the ball.

And he was the one who jumped on the footy...

Once he does that, he has to be seen to be making an attempt to get rid of the ball...

I think the decision was the right one...

On the second to last video in the link below, pause it at 0:03 mark and you'll see Cachia has the opportunity to handpass the ball...

http://www.sanfl.com.au/news/sanfl_news/3576/

He tucks it in, knowing there are a lot of Glenelg players around, going to ground in the tackle and is then obviously pounced upon...

To me, that shows 'prior opportunity' and the correct decision is paid...

[Doddy]

Dogs have been a strong tackling side since the Gowans arrived, and our fortunes seem to be linked to how HTB is interpreted on the day. I start smiling pretty early when I see a good few HTB called in the first quarter.

On Saturday at Noarlunga, the calls were variable all day unfortunately. Got a few, missed a few. On balance the bit that was annoying me the most was that the umpire seemed to wait a while to decide if a Central player without prior opportunity was making enough effort to dispose, but he often seemed to call the bounce immediately when a South guy was caught quickly. At least 4 instances of each, could have been different umps I suppose.

[another grub]

Sometimes they blow the whistle straight away, sometimes they dont. Its very to hard work out why ?

[Grenville]

Sometimes they blow the whistle straight away, sometimes they dont. Its very to hard work out why ?

Agreed, it seems a complete lottery.