An illegal push

As AussieRulesBlog sat comfortably at the MCG on Anzac Day, there was much consternation amongst Barcode supporters when free kicks were paid after Barcodes defenders pushed their opponents before taking a mark.

 

It was blithely assumed by those well-informed supporters that this was a scheme hatched in the AFL Umpiring Department to deprive the Barcodes of their rightful victory, some misapplication of the new interpretation of ‘hands in the back’. The Reid-Bellchambers decision, in particular, created some excitement among the black and white faithful, more especially because Reid clearly pushed Bellchambers in the side rather than the back.

 

AussieRulesBlog isn’t shy about taking on the The Giesch and his mob, but we generally like to have our facts straight before going for the Giesch’s throbbing jugular.

 

To take the new interpretation out of the equation, we consulted our archived copy of the Laws of Football, 2008 edition — yes, we know that’s sad.

 

15.4.3 Permitted Contact
Other than the prohibited contact identified under law 15.4.5, a player may make contact with another player:
(b) by pushing the other player with an open hand in the chest or side of the body provided that the football is no more than 5 metres away from the player;

 

Sharp-eyed readers will have spotted a key phrase: provided that the football is no more than 5 metres away from the player.

 

Just to put this into context, the goal ‘square’ is 10 metres long and the two players in this contest are around 2 metres tall. So if a kicked ball is descending toward a player and is further away than half the length of the goal square or two and a half times the player’s height, it is a free-kick offence to push an opponent.

 

And guess what? Law 15.4.3 (b) appears again, in exactly the same words, in the 2013 Laws of Australian Football.

 

So we went looking for the video footage to check out our theory.

 

Here’s the Reid-Bellchambers contest, in live footage, and the start of the pushing motion. Note that the ball is not in view:

 

 

and again in live footage, here’s the ball entering the frame about 3 to 4 metres from Reid’s arms:

 

 

We’ve been able to analyse this footage fairly closely (although we don’t have high-speed or high-def footage). From the time of the push, in the first frame above, to the ball finishing in Reid’s arms, about six tenths of a second elapse.

 

From the ball entering the frame, in the second screen dump, to the ball in Reid’s arms is about 0.16 seconds. If the distance between the ball and Reid in the second frame is conservatively 3.5 metres, the ball is travelling at around 22 metres per second.

 

Working backwards, in the six tenths of a second between the push and the mark, the ball travelled about 13 metres. The ball must have been 13 metres away, or more, when Reid pushed his opponent out of the contest: FREE KICK Law 15.4.3.

 

For television viewers, ire is not thwarted when the umpire gives the reason for the free kick as “two actions”. What does two actions have to do with it? Where is the rule on two actions? Another of the Giesch’s nonsense interpretations.