FLOODING

[marko]

CMON gang what are your thoughts on flooding
good or bad?
how to combat it?
will it go away?
will we see more specialist 60 metre kickers?

[rabbitz]

sandbags,live up high,always have a dinghy handy
The bloody swans do it and it shits me but it got them the four points at the scg last year against the lions
They cant do much to stop it but it does make the game messy,personally dont rate it at all
cheers

[Neil]

Football is sure not what it used to be , not even in the 90s. The game is so stop start now. At times it is just plain boring. Flooding is the main cause. What a joke when Thurgood made those huge strides out of defence carrying the ball, had nowhere to kick it, handpassed to Crawford who also had nowhere to kick it and so just aimed for the boundary line downfield.

Here are some suggestions which will bring on more one on one contests and won't have half the field empty.

1. After a mark or free kick the player must dispose of the ball within 5 seconds or the umpire calls play on - except for a shot at goal.

2. Limit interchanges to 16 for a game. After that number the player replaced cannot return for the rest of the game.

3. Have a nine point Super goal from outside 50. Even consider a 12 point goal for a drop kick from outside 50.

4. If taking a mark from kicking backwards it is play on. But the attacking side may kick a ball backwards inside their 50 and the mark is allowed.

5. The attacking side can pass the ball 10 metres for a mark to be taken inside their attacking 50.

[Chuck]

excuse my ignorance, but what exactly is flooding. (i'm not exactly the AFL type!)

[Sportz]

It simply means getting practically your whole team to run down to the defensive half of the field making it very hard for the attacking team to be able to score. Makes for ugly low scoring games that are frustrating to watch.

[Paddy]

FLOODING!!

You ain't seen flooding until you’ve watched two teams of under 9s playing at your local footy oval. To see the entire playing list (both teams) within a 15 metre radius of the goal posts, scrapping for the ball, is a joy to behold :)

Nice to see that some of our AFL team members as grown-ups, still remember lessons learnt in their early days ;)

[Chuck]

Makes for ugly low scoring games that are frustrating to watch.

sorry? did someone mention English rugby?

[marko]

What about if only 6 defenders from one team and the 6 opposition attackers inside the 50 metre arc.

[Rain Lover]

I think it's a lot of hot air about a non-existent problem. AFL has too many "dodgey" rules already eg. "holding the man/ball", without more legislation to argue about.
Flooders are losers on large grounds.
If your team is going to flood on a large ground then the players are going to cover extra kilometres and they're going to fade out in the last quarter eg. Port Adelaide in Round 1.
One rule that needs to disappear and would help alleviate flooding is, "deliberate out-of-bounds". How the ump. is supposed guess a player's intent has always been beyond me.
After a player has been the last to touch the ball, before an out-of-bounds, give the kick-in to his opponent.
Do you think you would then see 12 to 15 defenders in the defensive 50 trying to spoil with a punch to the boundary?
No you'd probably see a giant pack lifting to take the mark.
That could be exciting.

[Floydyboy]

Yep Im with you on the out of bounds Rain lover ...Give it to the opposing side although I cant see it happening

[BJ]

The problem is with not allowing players to kick backwards, that we play on an oval. I saw many times in the preseason comp, a player kick from the boundary outside the 50 into the 50. The ball appeared to go forward, but obviously the ball was closer to goal, yet these marks were paid. Are we to use this rule as though we play on a rectangular field?

[Sportz]

Yeah, I agree about the out-of-bounds bit. Aussie Rules is about the only game of it's type where you don't get penalised in some way for kicking, tapping or running the ball out of play. Can you think of another one??? I know sometimes it would seem unfair if someone accidently tapped the ball out of bounds in their defensive area and the opposition scored a goal from it. Perhaps a rule where if a team takes the ball out accidentally, the opposition gets a free kick but can't have a direct shot at goal???

Another thing I hate is teams going all defensive and kicking the ball around in their defensive 50 to waste time. I think they should introduce a rule that apart from kick-outs you can't take a mark off one of your teammates' kicks when you're inside your defensive 50. So in other words, if someone kicks the ball to a teammate who's inside the defensive 50, they can't go back and waste time, they have to play on.

Another one I hate is players intentionaly tapping, kicking or running the ball through for a 'rushed' behind. I know they experimented with awarding 3 points for this in the Wizard Cup, but here's what I would do. I reckon keep it at one point for a rushed behind, but instead of then letting that offending team kick out, make it a ball-up on the edge of the goal square. That might stop a few of those rushed behinds. And you wouldn't have to worry about the defensive tactic of the ruckman smashing the ball through for a point from the ball-up, because that would just result in another ball-up and another attacking chance for the opposition!

Any merit at all in those ideas? :o