03-04-2022, 11:56 PM
Viney will be an interesting litmus test when it comes to ducking into tackles. When he's about to be tackled, he tilts his shoulders to 45 degrees and lowers his head. In 2 instances I can recall, he milked 1 free and the ump didn't fall for it in the other. It really needs more of a crackdown than the Selwood tactic of lifting his arms to force high contact. Selwood is merely exploiting the modern preference for tackling around the upper arms to prevent handballs rather than tackling around the waist as was more common in days gone by.
The other rule I'd like to see addressed is the shove-out in marking contests. Exhibit A was late in the 1st quarter on the far wing when Lever used 2 hands to the back to push SOS out of a marking contest as SOS jumped, propelling him a couple of metres in the process. At least Lever then returned to the ball drop and got 2 hands to it before spilling it. The more flagrant defensive tactic is to use hands or the shoulder to knock the guy with front position under the ball without even putting the arms up in an attempt to mark the ball themselves (and Eddie Betts did this often, running up and putting the shoulder in the back to push the opponent under the ball with the intent of getting the resulting ground ball). If I were in charge of the umpires I'd tell them that making contact with someone trying to mark a ball without any attempt to spoil (excluding a "body spoil") or mark is automatically a free kick.
The other rule I'd like to see addressed is the shove-out in marking contests. Exhibit A was late in the 1st quarter on the far wing when Lever used 2 hands to the back to push SOS out of a marking contest as SOS jumped, propelling him a couple of metres in the process. At least Lever then returned to the ball drop and got 2 hands to it before spilling it. The more flagrant defensive tactic is to use hands or the shoulder to knock the guy with front position under the ball without even putting the arms up in an attempt to mark the ball themselves (and Eddie Betts did this often, running up and putting the shoulder in the back to push the opponent under the ball with the intent of getting the resulting ground ball). If I were in charge of the umpires I'd tell them that making contact with someone trying to mark a ball without any attempt to spoil (excluding a "body spoil") or mark is automatically a free kick.