The column to read during Better Homes & Gardens
Goal posts - do they really have a point?
One of the seemingly accepted norms of Australian football - that if ever ball and post should meet, ball will inevitably be tarnished - may be under threat with the AFL looking at developing a new signal for goal umpires.
Following a meeting of the Laws of the Game committee umpires could be encouraged to give struggling full forwards a leg up with their kicking for goal.
Under a radical proposal should a shot for goal brush the post and go through, goal umpires would be instructed to shrug politely, shout the phrase ‘oh well, near enough mate’ and perform a slow interpretive dance with their flags and the relevant goalpost.
Collingwood’s Travis Cloke was quick to endorse the proposal, even suggesting it be extended to any shot for goal that brushes members of the crowd in either forward pocket.
It is still to be decided on how the proposal would affect Auskick games where the action of the ball brushing the post often leads to the post lying prostrate on the ground before being replanted by a friendly volunteer.
Another proposal on the table from the rules committee is the option for boundary umpires to pay free kicks for holding and high contact at stoppages.
This revision may prove popular with fans as it will require the umps to complete a full backward somersault with twist upon throwing the ball back into play so they can land right on the boundary line and adjudicate on the resulting contest.
Tweets you didn’t see this week
- AFL targeting ‘Town Hall’ style meeting at Rooty Hill RSL for undecided sports followers in Western Sydney
- Late September flights from Melbourne sold out as prospect of Pies premiership looms large
- Interchange cap outrage - AFL boundary line officials furious with League directive to don fedoras
- Mark Williams in talks with Essendon as Bombers plot ‘Sheedy-in-reverse’ succession plan
- Kennett slams ‘outcoached’ Hawks as Clarkson seeks AFL clarification on legitimacy of the word ‘outpresidented’
- Obscure German coach set to take Port job - Jay Schulz tipped for prominent role in 2011
Dream team smokie - Zac Clarke
Forget the ball-magnets, goalkickers and lovers of the contested footy. Here are Dream Team superheroes you won’t hear the ‘experts’ talking about.
Like a vertiginous trapeze artist, the Dockers are starting to wobble as September approaches.
Last weekend, when there was trouble afoot with the mighty sole of Aaron Sandilands, Kepler Bradley stepped bravely into the breach against North.
But Kevin Sheedy’s lovechild could manage just nine hit-outs against McIntosh, Goldstein and co leading many to wonder - what did young Zac Clarke do to annoy Mark Harvey?
In his defence, Harvs would probably point to Zac’s previous outing against the Saints in round 12, his only appearance of 2010 where he racked up just three kicks, two handballs and a behind for a total of 10 measly Dream Team points.
This places Zac stone motherless last in the league for players who have actually scored in Dream Team this year.
But with a crucial game looming against the Sydney Swans on Saturday and 42nd back-up ruckman Hayden Ballantyne out injured, it’s surely time for big Zac to boost his Dream Team average on the wide open spaces of Subiaco.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
