A big experiment
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A great deal has been said during the week in favor of and against the experiment tried at Fitzroy recently, when free kicks were given, against the team forcing the ball out of bounds. Mr. Gerald Brosnan, the old captain of Fitzroy and present coach of the vastly improved University team, has given his opinion of the matter. He states:-
At present it is a change I cannot advocate; the best I can do is to 'damn it with faint praise.' It certainly does away with ruck play and, consequently the game is more open; but, having said that one has, in my opinion, said all that he can in its favor. I do not see eye to eye with those who say it will make the game faster. In fact, at present I am inclined to think it will have the opposite effect.
Once the half-forward line was reached, the play would become under this rule, more deliberate, there would be more playing for position, and consequently the game would resolve itself into a series of short passes, because no team would take the risk of forcing the ball out, as the punishment (a free kick) would not be worth the risk.
My contention is that it would have a tendency to do away with two of the finest features in football at present, viz., long kicking and high marking. Again, the umpire, if in doubt about who forces it out, has to bounce the ball. In a premiership match the umpire, I think, would be in doubt pretty often, and bouncing the ball is worse than throwing it in. Also, he would have to point out the man who was to get the free kick very frequently.
These would not help to make the game faster — rather would they tend in my opinion to make it slower, besides making it harder for the central umpire. Luck, I think, would also play a much more prominent part in the game than at present — especially on a windy day. The game at present is hard enough on 18 picked men — each of whom can have a rest occasionally — but if 15 or 16 were playing it would be much more severe. Besides, if a player gets hurt, the advantage to the other side is proportionately greater the less men there are playing.
If this rule were adopted the boundary line would have to he brought in some three or four yards on all the grounds to allow a player room to kick. At present on most of the grounds the fence is too close to the line.
No Behinds — I am entirely opposed to this idea, as I think it is a backward step, whether taken in conjunction with the first alteration, or on its own. The idea of behinds counting at all was brought in to give the side having the better of the play something as compensation for their efforts, even if they missed the goal, and I think it has worked splendidly.
Numerous instances have occurred since this was brought in where a team won the game on behinds although goals were less than opposing side, and I do not think you will find anyone to say they did not deserve their victory.
Six Foot Ring In Centre — This, I think, is a splendid idea, and will save the umpire a lot of interference, besides doing away altogether with the pushing; bumping, and elbowing which takes places whenever the ball is bounced in centre. The view I take of alterations to the present rule is this, that whilst I would be very much in favor of any alterations which would tend to improve the.game from a spectator's point of view, still I would be very chary of any changes until absolutely certain they would be a permanent improvement.
The game at present — under existing rules — if played properly between two good teams, has very few defects, and the council should, in my opinion, approach any proposed alterations very carefully— first making certain they would improve the game. However, as improvement cannot be obtained without experimenting and discussion, it would, perhaps, be well to see another trial of proposed rules — say, between two of the teams that were out of first four — to count as premiership match.
Footnotes
Title: A big experiment
Author: Gerald Brosnan
Publisher: Daily News (Perth, WA : 1882 - 1950)
Date: Friday 12 August 1910, page 7
Web: http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/80081999#
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