Ball-up frenzy in trial a worry
ST KILDA’S trial of controversial proposed rule changes will give the league an idea of “what not to do”, according to Saints coach Alan Richardson.
The Saints incorporated a 20-minute trial of starting positions, quicker ball-ups and extra-large goalsquares — plus other initiatives — into their training session yesterday.
Richardson wasn’t entirely convinced that what he saw would be the key to solving congestion, and said the testing of immediate ball-ups and a ball-up instead of a free kick in a tighter interpretation of prior opportunity showed that.
“Given that there were so many stoppages, and so many ball-ups … and then when the umpires were committed to throwing the ball up really quickly, players just couldn’t clear the area,” Richardson said. “I reckon there’ll be a lot that the AFL will get out of that in terms of perhaps what not to do, as opposed to ‘yeah, that’s a good look for us’.”
Richardson said he has been involved in a trial of holding players inside 50m three years ago, but said the prevalence of ball-ups yesterday indicated worse congestion.
“Even if it wasn’t by design, it would have given the AFL guys a bit of a look at what throwing the ball up might do from a density perspective,” he said. “And that is to probably make things worse.”
He said that result showed the importance of such trials.
Richardson — who said the information gleaned from the trials could influence future list decisions if the changes are implemented — said he welcomed a far greater sample size before any final calls are made.
“I wouldn’t rush it — I think there’s been some outstanding games of footy this year,” he said. “There’s some teams playing some really good footy. We think when we’re consistent and at our best, we’re playing some really good footy.
“It’d be ‘get as much information’ and it’d be go slow from my perspective.”