Focus on Rules IV: Fifty-metre penalty

Many would suggest that fifty metres is too harsh a penalty for many of the occasions where it is imposed. It cannot be doubted that some of the more gamesmanship-oriented infringements have been eradicated since the fifty-metre penalty was introduced for time wasting. AussieRulesBlog has moments of clear analysis that the harshness of the penalty works, and then there are those occasions when our own team suffers for some seemingly insignificant indiscretion!

Here’s the Law from the 2011 Laws of Football booklet:

18. Fifty-metre penalty

18.1 When imposed
Where a field umpire has awarded a free kick or a mark to a player, the field umpire shall also award a fifty-metre penalty in favour of that player if the field umpire is of the opinion that any player or official from the opposing side:

(a)	has encroached the mark;
(b)	engages in time wasting;
(c)	uses abusive, insulting, threatening or obscene language towards an umpire;
(d)	behaves in an abusive, insulting, threatening or obscene manner towards an umpire or disputes the decision of an umpire;
(e)	enters the protected area, except when the player is accompanying or following within 5 metres of their opponent;
(f)	has not returned the football directly and on the full to the player awarded the free kick or mark;
(g)	engages in any other conduct for which a free kick would ordinarily be awarded, in accordance with 16.7 (b);
(h)	when not in the immediate contest, holds a player after that player has marked the football or who has been awarded a free kick; or
(i)	a player in the contest who unreasonably holds a player after that player has marked the football or who has been awarded a free kick.

18.2  Imposing a fifty-metre penalty
When the field Umpire imposes a fifty-metre penalty, the following procedure shall apply:

(a)	the field umpire shall signal to the timekeeper to stop the clock used for the timing of the match for such time as it takes to impose the fifty-metre penalty;
(b)	the field umpire shall advance the mark by 50 metres in a direct line with the centre of the goal line; and
(c)	if the player who is obtaining the benefit of the fifty-metre penalty is less than 50 metres from the goal line, the mark shall become the centre of the goal line.

There are two elements we think are important to highlight beyond merely familiarising ourselves with the provisions of the Law.

The last provision of 18.1 (d) is or disputes the decision of the umpire. There are often penalties imposed for, according to the audio feed from the umpires, “abuse” when it’s pretty clear that there hasn’t been what the community would generally identify as abuse delivered. This last provision of 18.1 (d) gives the umpire carte blanche in effect. We suspect that “Fifty meters, abuse!” actually means “Fifty meters, disputing my decision!”.

The second element we wanted to highlight is 18.1 (e) and the reference to “protected area”. We’ve copied the protected area diagram from the Laws booklet and reproduced it below:


In 18.1 (e), entering the protected area when an opposition player has a mark or free kick is grounds for a fifty-metre penalty “except when the player is accompanying or following within 5 metres of their opponent”. We can’t recall any specific instance, but we feel pretty sure we’ve seen penalties awarded when players have been following an opponent in the vicinity of the protected area. Of course players will test the boundaries of the umpires’ interpretations, but we think this one gets mangled fairly often.

In one final point, we think it’s worth identifying the definition, according to the Laws, of the “time wasting” mentioned in 18.1 (b). According to the book, “time wasting … occurs where a field umpire is of the opinion that a player is unnecessarily causing a delay in play.” So, it’s good to know they’ve defined that one nice and clearly.
 
There’s no doubt that “fifties” can be one of the most infuriating episodes of a game, but AussieRulesBlog hopes that this post means you’ll be infuriated with justification!