Off-the-ball free kicks

Not for the first time, my attention has been drawn to off-the-play free kicks, this time while watching Adelaide-Saints on the idiot box.

In the first quarter, an Adelaide free was overturned because of an off-the-ball incident. The TV audience and some of the radio audience were aware of the reason for the change, but the punters sitting at AAMI Stadium are left completely in the dark.

We really need some way to provide an explanation for these otherwise inexplicable decisions. Perhaps an explanatory slide on the scoreboard?

This is irrespective of the merits or otherwise of any one specific decision.

Unfortunately, the way the game is moving, these off-the-ball-based, sometimes tiggy-touch-wood interpreted, free kicks can have potentially catastrophic consequences for a team whose supporters at the ground are left in the dark.

It's time that the AFL's paying customers were kept informed on the reasons for these incidents.