By Paul Bain
These rule changes were compiled after great deliberation!
- A ball shall travel 20m for a mark to be paid – this will allow the ball to be in motion longer and give umpires an easier assessment of 20m, the length of a cricket pitch. This will also cut down on running down the clock and slowing the play.
- All ball-ups within 15m of the boundary line shall be balled-up 15m from the boundary line– this will decrease the number of out of bounds and open up the play.
- A minimum 50m penalty, in a direct line with the centre of the goals, will be paid for all downfield free kicks – this will give a fairer, more consistent penalty for a late infringement and bring it in to line with other 50m penalties, some for non-body contact. Any kick further than 50m shall be the penalty distance.
- After a behind, the attacking team’s man-on-the-mark is able to stand on the end of the goal square line – this will result in limiting the free play-on and gaining a15m advantage defenders have at the moment. The advantage should be with the attacking team.
- No player shall dispose of the ball from outside the boundary line. Instead, the player from a mark or free kick shall stop at the boundary line and the Field Umpire will set the mark 7m from the player with the ball. When an out of bounds on the full occurs, the player with the ball stands where the ball crossed the line. In all these instances the umpire sets the mark, as they already do. This allows the player with the ball to have play-on options and is in play when shooting for goal.
5a. This rule will negate the rule of playing on outside the boundary line, sometimes resulting in a throw-in!
6. Any ball kicked backwards and marked by a teammate shall be play-on except when an attacking team kicks the ball backwards in its 50m arc area and the ball is marked by a teammate in the 50m arc area.
Hoping these ideas provide some food for thought. I’m not sure how KB and his Laws Of The Game Committee would respond to these suggestions!
Paul Bain, who does remember the drop kick, stab kick and blind turn, but not the place kick.
Paul , good for you .I think all of these ideas represent improvement , but KB won’t agree because HE didn’t think of them. Can anyone explain how KB and Gieschen got to their respective influential positions ?
I agree with rule six. For years I’ve been saying it should be introduced. Clubs will be less inclined to go backwards or sideways…