I had been away overseas all during the finals only arrived in Sydney as the Grand Final was starting.
I only just watched the first Eagles vs Collingwood final properly yesterday. Cole was pinged 50 metres when a Collingwood player had played on and was running towards goal.
I see the same confusion happening with the new rule. The players will play on but if umpire is slow calling it. The players realise what is happening but get pinged a further 50 metres for not waiting for the umpires call before tackling.
Also the AFL are trying to make the game more free flowing but then the umpires allow the opposition players to lock in the ball when a player has marked or been paid a free. If they Police this and pay a 50 metres there consistently it would be very effective.
There was an example in the passage of play where Sheed kicked the winning goal in the Grand Final. Liam Ryan was paid the mark but the Collingwood guy was desperately trying to lock the ball in but Ryan was able to grab it off him and play on and kick it to Sheed.
If the Collingwood player had succeeded in locking it in the ump's wouldn't have paid the 50 and the game would have been slowed down dramatically. This is a rule that is already there but the ump's are so inconsistent. New rules aren't needed and the umps need to just pay the ones that are already there and it will make the game more free flowing.
