‘Protected zone’ penalties perplexing
IT is the rule that has supporters and coaches alike ripping the hairs from their head.
And on two occasions last night, 50m penalties were awarded against players who ran through the so-called “protected zone”.
Geelong midfielder Tim Kelly was penalised in the second term, gifting Tom McCartin a shot for goal, while Swans midfielder Dan Hannebery was the offender in the fourth quarter, helping the Cats vault out of defence.
On both occasions, it appeared neither Kelly nor Hannebery had infringed on purpose.
To the contrary, it appeared as if both had worked with pace to get themselves out of the protected area as quickly as possible.
Brownlow Medal winner Patrick Dangerfield suggested he would be in favour of changing the rule, or abolishing it altogether.
“I understand the reasoning behind it in making sure the game is freeflowing,” Dangerfield said after the game on Fox Footy.
“But I think we can do that in other ways. I don’t think necessarily we need to use that protected zone as a means to speed the game up and make sure it’s freeflowing.
“It’s a real challenge. We, as players, are trying to play the game.
“I think (with those incidents) the players aren’t trying to disrupt the flow of play, which is potentially the reason I think it may have been brought in.
“It’s potentially something to look at for 2019 and beyond.” Geelong Advertiser IF you were watching last night’s game and thought the SCG was a tad slippery at the start of the match, you weren’t alone. But there might have been a reason for the early sliding around from players from both teams. New Channel 7 boundary rider and GWS Giants captain Phil Davis suggested that an anti-dew spray was applied to the surface before the game. It’s not the first time the Cats have been involved in a clash at the SCG where the ground was ‘tinkered with’ either. In 2005, Geelong asked for the ground to be watered because the centre wicket was too hard. The result? A famous, lastsecond victory to the Swans. The game was even in nearly every facet except one — inside-50s — but that is nothing new for Geelong and Sydney. Only once had Sydney won the inside-50 tally in the past eight games between them before last night but they had still managed to win six of those matches. It was almost the same again, with the Cats registering 59 to 46 for the match. In the end Geelong’s wayward kicking — 8.23.71 — probably kept the Swans in the game for longer than they should have been. THERE was plenty of talk during the week about how Mark Blicavs might handle the biggest challenge he has faced since moving into his new role of key defender. Lance Franklin is a hard man to stop at the best of times, let alone when you’ve had limited preparation due to a sore toe. Before the game Blicavs had been involved in 45 one-on-one contests this year and had a 15.6 per cent loss rate — ranked first in the competition. Franklin probably had the better of the battle, but Blicavs was hardly disgraced. Buddy ultimately finished with five marks and four goals, moving him to 899 for his career.