THE TRADITION of the bounce is safe, according to AFL football operations manager Mark Evans, despite umpires clearly struggling with this difficult skill throughout the NAB Challenge.
However, when Evans was asked if the centre bounce was "scarosanct" there was some - albeit small - ambiguity about his response.
However, when Evans was asked if the centre bounce was "scarosanct" there was some - albeit small - ambiguity about his response.
"It is at the moment," he said.
Of course, when pressed again, Evans indicated he had no intention of removing one of the game's most unique features. In fact, it could become a protected species.
"The centre bounce is very protected for this year. I'm assuming it will be for years to come," Evans said.
"I think it is a part of our game that people like seeing."
He said the high rate of recalled bounces during this pre-season was inevitable with inexperienced umpires vying for senior spots and the need for umpires to practice bounces under match conditions.
"I would expect we won't see too many problems with bounces once we start the season," Evans said.
With Evans continuing to drive the development of an AFL charter to enshrine aspects of the game and give rule makers a framework to abide to, he knows such questions might become a thing of the past.
But nothing is over the line as yet.
The draft AFL Charter was presented to the AFL Commission twice in 2013 and will be assessed at a meeting of the AFL Laws of the Game Committee in March. Evans expected to then release it for public comment.
Evans is unwilling to call any rule changes being implemented in season 2014 a success just yet but he has been heartened by the way players and coaches have embraced the change to the rules relating to head high contact.
He admits it might be a difficult rule for umpires to call at times but he hoped it would change behaviour.
"What we have to discourage is the absolutely dangerous position where that player will try to burrow through head-down in a very, very vulnerable position for a neck injury [or] if a player decides that part of his evasion he is going to move his head height," Evans said.
However players who receive head high contact when a tackler's hands slip up during a tackle will still earn a free kick a la Joel Selwood.
"I don't think you can ask a person with the ball to just allow themselves to be tackled," Evans said. "You have to allow them the opportunity to evade, or shrug or use their strength to get out of that tackle.”
Evans can now refer matters directly to the AFL Tribunal if considered appropriate after the AFL Commission approved minor changes to the game's judicial system this week. He said there were occasions when more evidence was required than the Match Review Panel normally considered.
"If you felt there was an incident where it would be worthwhile for the tribunal to hear all of the evidence not just look at vision, not just look at a medical report but hear all of the evidence including that by the player or a victim player or an umpire then you could refer it to the tribunal," Evans said.
He said the communication of judicial decisions was something the AFL hoped to improve during 2014.
