AMONG a host of new changes to the AFL Women’s this season is the somewhat controversial holding the ball interpretation. Umpires have been told to be stricter on players who make no genuine attempt to release the ball, or dive on or drag the ball in to try and cause a repeat stoppage.

Over the weekend, there were a host of coaches who were asked for their honest thoughts on how the interpretation fared and whether or not it needed tweaking.

Carlton coach Matthew Buck and counterpart Darren Crocker were two who liked the idea behind it, but were wary of it going too far and penalising players for winning the ball first. Melbourne coach Mick Stinear was a big fan of the new interpretation, while Nick Dal Santo said he did not notice too much of a difference, but agreed it was a positive step to keep the ball moving.

WARY

Still rewarding ball-winners – Matthew Buck (Carlton)

“My only concern around holding the ball is making sure that we reward the person who’s trying to win the ball because you don’t want to get to a point where you don’t want to win the ball because you know if you get the tackle you’ll get a holding the ball,” he said.

“I thought there was a couple of them those tonight, but overall I was pretty happy with the adjudication. There will be some balance with it for sure and the umpires have to get used to that interpretation as well. I’m confident if we can get it right it will speed up the game, less stoppages in the game make it a bit more of a transition and ball movement type of game which we’re up for.”

Finding that balance – Darren Crocker (North Melbourne)

“It’s just going to be something that a bit of a work in progress,” he said. “I’m sure a lot of the coaches throughout the weekend will go back to the umpiring department to get some clarification around some of the decisions that were made.

“I like the concept of it to keep the game alive and moving and not too much congestion, we’ve just got to be careful that we don’t go too far one way. I’m sure with anything, potentially you go too hard one way early, and then you can just pull it back. We’re a team that like to keep the ball alive anyway, so for us it shouldn’t hurt us too much.”

SUPPORT

Great for the game – Mick Stinear (Melbourne)

“I’ve been a big supporter of it,” he said. “Early on there wasn’t a lot of stoppages so the game was moving pretty quickly but that’s what we want, that’s a good thing. Probably the players just adjusting to that. “I think from what I’ve seen the umpires are umpiring it really consistently, and players are smart, they adjust and adapt.

“Probably the first couple of rounds might take everyone a little while just to find the rhythm of it, but I think for the flow of the game and where we want to head, I think it’s a good thing. I was happy with how that all went tonight.”

NEUTRAL

Nothing of note changed – Nick Dal Santo (St Kilda)

Okay. I got to be honest, I don’t watch the game through binoculars and I rarely go back over an incident, if I do it’s more a stoppage structure, I’m definitely not looking for holding the balls. I think the game’s going in the right direction, we want the ball to keep moving so there was nothing that caught my eye. There might be the odd one that you think ‘oh that might be a bit hot’ or ‘why wasn’t that?’ but I think that happens every week whether you’re watching men’s or women’s that’s just the way it is.

CONCLUSION

The new holding the ball rule certainly garnered mixed reactions from the coaches who were asked about it. The general consensus is that creating free-flowing football will be better for the competition and future as a whole, but there needs to be a balance so it does not become a case of players waiting for opponents to win the ball, then applying the tackle to win easy free kicks.

It will take time for the interpretation to find its final form, which usually sees a host of ‘hot’ calls early in the season, and as the year goes on, umpires adapt to find the right balance, as do players, so there is greater understanding of what is required to win and dispose of the ball or be able to still gather possession without being pinged for holding the ball.