Reading between the rules

REMAINING FOR THE LEAGUE

Sideline kick

The trial whereby all sideline kicks, except those taken in the last 20 metres (attacking) of the field, must go forward continues.

The 10-match review found that there were 57 sidelines, of which five per cent did not go forward.

On average, the ball was back in play within eight seconds.

Advanced mark

In the 10 reviewed games there were 35 advanced marks, of which 32 were taken (22 by an attacker, 10 by a defender).

There were 14 shots taken from an attacking mark, eight of which were scored.

Sin bin

There were 10 black card offences penalised in the 10 games reviewed, in line with the average in last year’s championship and league matches.

Kick-outs

Kick-outs taken from the 20-metre line resulted in a 10 per cent increase in those contested in the 10 games reviewed, which is up from 40 per cent in last year’s championship.

Some 67 per cent of kickouts from the 20-metre line crossed the 45-metre line, in comparison to 57 per cent in the 2018 Championship.

OUT FOR THE LEAGUE

Three handpass restriction

The review found the handpass to kickpass ratio dropped dramatically, from 3.5:1 in last year’s championship to 1.3:1 in recent weeks (2,695 handpasses to 2,095 kickpasses).

It also found that the number of uncontested passes rose slightly from 68 per cent (2018 Championship) to 72 per cent, which is partly reflective of the doubling of the number of kicks.

The number of kickpasses backwards (25 per cent in the 2018 Championship) rose by five per cent, despite more than 100 kicks per game in the 10-game review.