New rule right on mark

Open ground, attacking football the likely outcome

HAWTHORN through its superior years called it “working the mark”.

Former Hawk Jordan Lewis said on Monday it had been critical to the team’s success.

In essence, it was to dance and move, watch the eyes of the player with the ball, cut off the corridor kick, and force the ball down the line.

It helped kill attacking ball movement and, in the years since, helped kill the game as a spectacle.

“It was huge for us,’’ Lewis said. “We had a high focus on manning the mark, and not only us, Geelong used to man the mark very well.

“They had a guy on the mark and another player cutting off the 45-degree kick, especially in our defensive 50. It would force you to go short or long down the line.”

The new standing-themark rule, which allows the player to move only a metre laterally, will be explosive in the first weeks as players adjust their instincts to move off the mark when the player with ball moves off his line.

Only when the umpire calls “play on” can the man on the mark leave his spot.

The penalty for the rule is 50m.

There will be an outcry from fans and others when the penalty is enforced, particularly in the early matches. breaking

Former coach Ross Lyon told the Herald Sun in November the issue with the modern game was there was “no time and no space’’.

The new rule opens the latter and, in a sport being devoured by defensive strategies, the rule should viewed as a necessity and not a blight.

After all, no one barracks for the man on the mark.

Lewis, who is working with Melbourne’s midfield this seamore son and as a commentator with Fox Footy, watched about 140 games last season.

He said he believed the ground would open up under the new rule and allow more attacking football.

“It’s probably the only rule brought in that I think will have immediate and positive impact,” Lewis said.

“It gives more power to the guy with the ball to make better decisions and potentially aggressive decisions. What you used to struggle with, and even more so now, when you marked the ball, a player would understand the position of the ground and where you wanted to move the ball and cut that angle.

“The new rule gives more options than you’ve ever had as the kicker.”

Lewis said it was a work in progress for clubs at training.

“It will take a couple of weeks for the players to consciously think about it coming into the game,” he said.