Holding the ball remains Australian Football’s most complicated and annoying rule, writes Michelangelo Rucci

COLLINGWOOD president Eddie McGuire, when wearing his commentator hat, repeatedly screams into his microphone: “Dropping the ball.”

There is no such rule in Australian Football.

But with the way the contentious holding-the-ball rule has been interpreted this season, there has been a lot of dropping, throwing and even handing off to suggest there should be.

IF YOU DON’T MIND UMPIRE: BALL!

Well before Angus Monfries dropped the ball and failed to connect with a kick while being tackled by Essendon defender Mark Baguley on Saturday night, the holding-the-ball rule was a mess in its interpretation.

The three umpires who commanded Showdown 37 at the Oval a week earlier made a hash of holding-the-ball to the point that Crows coach Brenton Sanderson could not even bring himself to find the words to express his dismay and confusion.

In that derby, Port Adelaide’s Rising Star contender Jarman Impey took possession of a hot ball, was struck in the chin, taken to ground with a pack of Crows players emptying his lungs with greater force than Hawthorn defender Brian Lake can manage
with his hands ... and penalised for holding the ball.

That was enough for The (Old) Roast’s original go-to man in the crowd — who actually played a bit of SANFL football in his time — to send a text message saying: “The game is stuffed.”

“The Fan”, as we dubbed him, is not a great fan of umpiring. For him to constantly remark on umpires rather than the players highlights his concern for where Australian Football is today.

And the intriguing issue on AFL umpiring is how the old-fashioned criticism of umpires — that they have not played the game and thereby do not have a feel for the game — cannot be worked against them.

There is a former player (Jordan Bannister) in their ranks — and a former player and club assistant coach in charge of their program.

Wayne Campbell, the former Richmond captain, is in his first season as AFL umpiring director. He is following a long line of former footballers to be put in charge of AFL umpires. For those who are straining their memories, there has not been a former
umpire at AFL House since Bill Deller left in 1997.

Campbell was far from convincing when he started the media rounds this week when the “play on” call on Monfries made by the league’s most-experienced umpire, Shane McInerney.

“We certainly don’t think it was as cut and dry as what it seems the majority of the football public do,” Campbell told Radio 3AW in Melbourne. Ultimately, Campbell conceded it should have been holding-the-ball with a free kick for Baguley.

But the match report and review by AFL umpiring coach Hayden Kennedy, all completed by former umpires, may have said something different to support McInerney’s “play-on” call.

“We thought (Monfries) had prior opportunity ... but we won’t be hanging the umpire for not paying the free kick,” Campbell added in a comment that seems a strategic play. “If it had have been in the middle of the ground and at a different stage,
it probably wouldn’t have drawn the attention it did.”

Goodness.

The contentious issue in this debate was whether Monfries had — as the holding-the-ball rule demands — “reasonable time” to dispose of the ball with a kick or handball.

What is “reasonable time”?

Kennedy in a media interview two days before the game threw up the concept that an umpire will take four steps to measure this infamous grey zone of “prior opportunity” and “reasonable time”.

The AFL umpiring department at the start of the season delivered to every AFL club a DVD explaining the holding-the-ball rule.

It splits the rule into four categories — when a player has had “prior opportunity”, when he dives on the ball, when he has had no “prior opportunity” and when he makes an illegal disposal to send Ed into a high-pitched scream of “dropping
the ball.”

By section four of these interpretations, it is quite fine — provided there is no “prior opportunity” — to throw the ball in Australian Football today. Even to drop it, as McGuire is quick to highlight.

“Holding the ball has been an issue for 50 years,” Campbell said.

Actually, it has been a curse of Australian Football since the 1880s when the greater challenge for an umpire was to decide the difference between “holding-the-ball” and “holding-the-man”.

Melbourne coach Paul Roos may have to take responsibility for the tactic many players today use of hugging the ball on their chest when they sense they are to be tackled — a trick that sets up a stoppage because the umpire will not call “holding-the-
ball” when a player has his arms pinned.

“I don’t blame the umpires at all, because we’re all confused,” Roos says of the holding-the-ball interpretations.

“The Fan” is certainly confused — and angry.

HOLDING THE BALL

What the AFL says of the rule ...

HOLDING-the-ball: the most contentious issue in AFL laws of the game since the 1880s — is classified under four scenarios by the AFL umpiring department.

1. PRIOR OPPORTUNITY

WHEN a player who is in possession of the ball and has had ‘prior opportunity’ that is a reasonable time to dispose of the ball and is then tackled legally, he must immediately kick or handball the ball.

GREY AREA: What defines “reasonable time”.

2. DIVING ON THE BALL

WHERE a player elects to dive on or drag the ball into or under his body, if legally tackled he must successfully knock the ball clear. Failure to do so will result in him being penalised for holding the ball.

GREY AREA: How does two opposition players jumping on the ball-holder constitute a legal tackle?

3. NO PRIOR OPPORTUNITY — GENUINE ATTEMPT

A PLAYER who takes possession of the ball, but has had no prior opportunity to dispose, will be given a ‘reasonable opportunity’ to make an ‘attempt to correctly dispose of the football’.

Players do not have to successfully handball or kick the ball, but must demonstrate to the umpire that they are making a genuine effort to dispose of the football.

If a player’s arm or arms are free, the umpire may deem that there is no genuine attempt being made, hence a holding-the-ball decision may result.

GREY AREA: Players who mask “genuine attempts” to handpass with highly effective throws or allow the ball to be taken from their hands by team-mates.

4. ILLEGAL DISPOSAL

THE player who has possession of the ball and ‘drops’, ‘throws’ or ‘places’ the ball on the ground without making a genuine attempt to handball or kick will be penalised.

GREY AREA: Too often this interpretation is ignored.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/holding-the-ball-remains-australian-footballs-most-complicated-and-annoying-rule-writes-michelangelo-rucci/news-story/97be248eb84573e33882e8667345fc64

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Holding the ball: How did we get here?
Sam McClure
By Sam McClure
August 7, 2020 — 2.39pm https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/holding-the-ball-how-did-we-get-here-20200807-p55jjk.html
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“You only pay holding the ball when you hear the old lady at the back of the grandstand yell: ‘Ball!’ ”

That was the advice given to 502-game veteran Shane McInerney by his first umpiring coach, the legendary Glenn James.

Non-call: Angus Monfries is tackled by Mark Baguley.
Non-call: Angus Monfries is tackled by Mark Baguley.CREDIT:CHANNEL SEVEN Between teacher and pupil, James and McInerney umpired five decades worth of football across the VFL and AFL.

And yet the holding-the-ball rule continues to be one of the most divisive aspects of the game.

RELATED ARTICLE
Jon Ceglar and Tom Mitchell teamed up to tackle Patrick Cripps at Optus Stadium last Friday.
Sporting rules
Footy caught in possession
So how did we get here? And why? Who is responsible for this pit of confusion that players, coaches, fans and umpires have all fallen into?

First, it’s important to understand where we actually are today.

When you’re watching a game of football, think of the things you might yell at your TV screen as you get up off the couch, hands going to your head in disbelief.

“How was he supposed to get rid of it?” is common.

“Where was his prior?” always seems to make you feel better.

Or perhaps “If that’s holding the ball we might as well call the game something else” is more for you.

But how many of us actually know the rules? There are four ways in which one can be guilty of “holding the ball”. One is when you have prior opportunity and three include when you don’t (you’re surprised already, aren’t you?)

The four ways are: prior opportunity, incorrect disposal, no genuine attempt and diving on it.

The rules have become very specific and the strictness in which they are umpired has only increased. But it wasn’t very long ago that the holding-the-ball rule was very different.

2014

In round 16, on a chilly Saturday night at the Adelaide Oval, Port Adelaide’s Angus Monfries perfectly roved a pack 15 metres out from goal late in the last quarter.

He took the ball cleanly, took four quick steps and was just about to put his team within two points when he was tackled by former teammate Mark Baguley.

There was no whistle.


McInerney, umpiring game 393 and at that time the league’s most senior umpire, called play-on.

Port Adelaide youngster Kane Mitchell picked up the ball and hammered it home from the goal line.

Although the local crowd liked the decision, the non-call was greeted with confusion by Brian Taylor and the rest of the Channel Seven commentary team.

“No decision! He did not handball it and he did not kick it!”

Of course, you don’t have to handball it or kick it if you haven’t had prior opportunity.

So, did he?

“I would pay the same decision 100 times out of 100 under our instruction at the time,” McInerney told The Age.

RELATED ARTICLE
Lost in translation: Essendon's Zach Merrett (right) appeals to the umpire after the controversial call made during their round 9 match against the Lions.
AFL 2020
'Unravel the mess': AFL urged to solve holding the ball confusion
LAWS SUMMIT

Later that year, former Richmond champion and then umpires boss Wayne Campbell – who was relatively new to the position – held a laws-of-the-game summit with industry figures and heads of club football.

Vision of several incidents, including Monfries, was shown.

“Forget whether it is or it isn’t, just watch these clips and tell us; is this holding the ball?” Campbell asked.

Essentially, it’s the same question umpires had to ask themselves in the split second between a tackle and knowing whether to blow the whistle or call play-on.

Prior to 2015, the holding-the-ball rule was largely umpired based on feel.

After the meeting, Campbell and his team had one clear question they needed to answer before the start of 2015: “How do we define prior opportunity?”

Earlier in the year, Western Bulldogs star Robert Murphy emerged from an in-tight contest with ball in hand against Melbourne.

Murphy had barely taken a step when he was confronted by a tackler. He tried to evade and failed and dropped the ball in the tackle.

Play-on was called. Murphy had only just picked up the ball, he was surrounded by bodies, he couldn’t be expected to have had prior opportunity.

This is a key moment in our game.

From 2015, it was decided that if you tried to evade a player – even if you’ve just taken possession – that’s your prior opportunity. If you fend off: that’s your prior. If you’ve taken a mark and play-on – even if you’ve taken half a
step; you’ve had prior.

2020

The rules of holding the ball have remained consistent. But the interpretation and the emphasis placed on certain aspects have been altered.


The screws have been slowly but surely tightened since 2015 and prior opportunity today is different to what it was five seasons ago. It’s different to what it was five months ago.

"I think we need to be tougher on holding the ball, I think that prior opportunity needs to be tighter … but I'm just a voice. I'm one person out there. What would I know?"

That was the voice of league boss Gillon McLachlan in June. He was responding to the thoughts of Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson, who was once again expressing his dismay over the state of the game and the lack of holding-the-ball decisions.

Coincidentally or not – and football operations boss Steve Hocking is adamant it was coincidental – AFL umpires were reminded about the “genuine attempt” part of the rule in that same week.

McInerney said: “One of the most frustrating things in this 2020 COVID season – there’s enough to deal with – you’ve got umpires in three different hubs spread across the country and you try to implement an adjustment? Really?

“You have something set at the start of the year and you just keep to it.”

Insiders believe the reminder of players making a genuine attempt has been the biggest rule change in holding the ball since the end of 2014.


And it’s all directed at one thing.

“The rule has become a mechanism of managing the flow of the game,” McInerney said.

“The idea is trying to prevent stoppages … to try to increase flow.”

It’s been nearly six years since the AFL asked itself: “How do we define prior opportunity?”

Perhaps now the question is whether the league can continue to alter existing rules to improve the flow of the game.

Or, as Steve Hocking is considering, is the real answer to implement major change through the use of rotations, number of players on the field and zones?

On Saturday, January 7, 2023 at 8:42:36 PM UTC+13, Morrissey Breen wrote:

Holding the ball remains Australian Football’s most complicated and annoying rule, writes Michelangelo Rucci

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Tuesday, February 21, 2023 at 8:16:02 PM UTC+13, Morrissey Breen wrote:

Holding the ball: How did we get here?
Sam McClure
By Sam McClure
August 7, 2020 — 2.39pm https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/holding-the-ball-how-did-we-get-here-20200807-p55jjk.html
Save
Share
Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text size
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“You only pay holding the ball when you hear the old lady at the back of the grandstand yell: ‘Ball!’ ”

That was the advice given to 502-game veteran Shane McInerney by his first umpiring coach, the legendary Glenn James.

Non-call: Angus Monfries is tackled by Mark Baguley.
Non-call: Angus Monfries is tackled by Mark Baguley.CREDIT:CHANNEL SEVEN Between teacher and pupil, James and McInerney umpired five decades worth of football across the VFL and AFL.

And yet the holding-the-ball rule continues to be one of the most divisive aspects of the game.

RELATED ARTICLE
Jon Ceglar and Tom Mitchell teamed up to tackle Patrick Cripps at Optus Stadium last Friday.
Sporting rules
Footy caught in possession
So how did we get here? And why? Who is responsible for this pit of confusion that players, coaches, fans and umpires have all fallen into?

First, it’s important to understand where we actually are today.

When you’re watching a game of football, think of the things you might yell at your TV screen as you get up off the couch, hands going to your head in disbelief.

“How was he supposed to get rid of it?” is common.

“Where was his prior?” always seems to make you feel better.

Or perhaps “If that’s holding the ball we might as well call the game something else” is more for you.

But how many of us actually know the rules? There are four ways in which one can be guilty of “holding the ball”. One is when you have prior opportunity and three include when you don’t (you’re surprised already, aren’t you?)

The four ways are: prior opportunity, incorrect disposal, no genuine attempt and diving on it.

The rules have become very specific and the strictness in which they are umpired has only increased. But it wasn’t very long ago that the holding-the-ball rule was very different.

2014

In round 16, on a chilly Saturday night at the Adelaide Oval, Port Adelaide’s Angus Monfries perfectly roved a pack 15 metres out from goal late in the last quarter.

He took the ball cleanly, took four quick steps and was just about to put his team within two points when he was tackled by former teammate Mark Baguley.

There was no whistle.

McInerney, umpiring game 393 and at that time the league’s most senior umpire, called play-on.

Port Adelaide youngster Kane Mitchell picked up the ball and hammered it home from the goal line.

Although the local crowd liked the decision, the non-call was greeted with confusion by Brian Taylor and the rest of the Channel Seven commentary team.

“No decision! He did not handball it and he did not kick it!”

Of course, you don’t have to handball it or kick it if you haven’t had prior opportunity.

So, did he?

“I would pay the same decision 100 times out of 100 under our instruction at the time,” McInerney told The Age.

RELATED ARTICLE
Lost in translation: Essendon's Zach Merrett (right) appeals to the umpire after the controversial call made during their round 9 match against the Lions.
AFL 2020
'Unravel the mess': AFL urged to solve holding the ball confusion
LAWS SUMMIT

Later that year, former Richmond champion and then umpires boss Wayne Campbell – who was relatively new to the position – held a laws-of-the-game summit with industry figures and heads of club football.

Vision of several incidents, including Monfries, was shown.

“Forget whether it is or it isn’t, just watch these clips and tell us; is this holding the ball?” Campbell asked.

Essentially, it’s the same question umpires had to ask themselves in the split second between a tackle and knowing whether to blow the whistle or call play-on.

Prior to 2015, the holding-the-ball rule was largely umpired based on feel.

After the meeting, Campbell and his team had one clear question they needed to answer before the start of 2015: “How do we define prior opportunity?”

Earlier in the year, Western Bulldogs star Robert Murphy emerged from an in-tight contest with ball in hand against Melbourne.

Murphy had barely taken a step when he was confronted by a tackler. He tried to evade and failed and dropped the ball in the tackle.

Play-on was called. Murphy had only just picked up the ball, he was surrounded by bodies, he couldn’t be expected to have had prior opportunity.

This is a key moment in our game.

From 2015, it was decided that if you tried to evade a player – even if you’ve just taken possession – that’s your prior opportunity. If you fend off: that’s your prior. If you’ve taken a mark and play-on – even if you’ve taken half a

step; you’ve had prior.

2020

The rules of holding the ball have remained consistent. But the interpretation and the emphasis placed on certain aspects have been altered.

The screws have been slowly but surely tightened since 2015 and prior opportunity today is different to what it was five seasons ago. It’s different to what it was five months ago.

"I think we need to be tougher on holding the ball, I think that prior opportunity needs to be tighter … but I'm just a voice. I'm one person out there. What would I know?"

That was the voice of league boss Gillon McLachlan in June. He was responding to the thoughts of Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson, who was once again expressing his dismay over the state of the game and the lack of holding-the-ball decisions.

Coincidentally or not – and football operations boss Steve Hocking is adamant it was coincidental – AFL umpires were reminded about the “genuine attempt” part of the rule in that same week.

McInerney said: “One of the most frustrating things in this 2020 COVID season – there’s enough to deal with – you’ve got umpires in three different hubs spread across the country and you try to implement an adjustment? Really?

“You have something set at the start of the year and you just keep to it.”

Insiders believe the reminder of players making a genuine attempt has been the biggest rule change in holding the ball since the end of 2014.

And it’s all directed at one thing.

“The rule has become a mechanism of managing the flow of the game,” McInerney said.

“The idea is trying to prevent stoppages … to try to increase flow.”

It’s been nearly six years since the AFL asked itself: “How do we define prior opportunity?”

Perhaps now the question is whether the league can continue to alter existing rules to improve the flow of the game.

Or, as Steve Hocking is considering, is the real answer to implement major change through the use of rotations, number of players on the field and zones?
On Saturday, January 7, 2023 at 8:42:36 PM UTC+13, Morrissey Breen wrote:

Holding the ball remains Australian Football’s most complicated and annoying rule, writes Michelangelo Rucci

High-profile players refuse to play ball on AFL betting ads
Jake Niall
By Jake Niall
March 2, 2023 — 5.00am
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KEY POINTS

Melbourne’s premiership full-forward and renowned goalkicker Ben Brown is among the leading players who have chosen not to have their image used in the AFL-authorised betting promotions for ethical reasons.
In 2022, close to 30 players chose to “opt out” of the wagering promotion for the betting partner.
The players will not have their image used by the AFL’s lucrative betting partner, Sportsbet, which is entitled to use their image - in small groups shots and also in footage - to promote or advertise their company’s betting on the AFL.
A number of high-profile AFL players have refused to have their image used by the AFL’s wagering partner, for ethical, reputational or even commercial reasons.

Melbourne’s premiership full-forward and renowned goalkicker Ben Brown is among the leading players who have chosen not to have their image used in the AFL-authorised betting promotions for ethical reasons.

Melbourne forward Ben Brown.
Melbourne forward Ben Brown.CREDIT:GETTY IMAGES
By opting “out”, the players will not have their image used by the AFL’s lucrative betting partner, Sportsbet, which is entitled to use their image - in small groups shots and also in footage - to promote or advertise the company’s betting on the
AFL.

In addition to Brown, who is renowned for his stands on social issues, The Age is aware of another well-known player, who wished to remain anonymous, who opted out for ethical reasons, feeling uncomfortable with the betting promotion.


There are other players, according to agents, who have opted out of the wagering promotion because they have had gambling problems in the past.

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A number of senior players contacted by The Age, however, had little awareness that the AFL effectively asks them to “opt out” - and that Sportsbet had the right to use their image if they did not specify opposition to being used in the betting
promotion/advertisements.

Nearly all these players contacted had not objected and thus Sportsbet had the right to use their image, even though some expressed misgivings about the wagering connection.

In 2022, close to 30 players chose to “opt out” of the wagering promotion for the betting partner — fewer than 4 per cent of players. Under AFL rules, players cannot be involved in encouraging betting on AFL games, but their image can be
exclusively used by the AFL’s wagering partner, which also has a presence on the league’s website and App.

Sources familiar with Brown’s situation said he had first opted out of the wagering promotion in an earlier season, perhaps in 2020.

Former Bulldogs premiership captain Easton Wood, who voiced opposition to the gambling relationship with the AFL until his retirement after the 2021 season, said he would have opted out and not let his image be used under the current system, which was
part of the players’ pay deal with the AFL.

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Wood could not recall if he had actually opted out in his final years - the opt-out arrangement is relatively recent. “But given the opportunity [now], I unequivocally would opt out,” he told The Age. In 2019, Wood said he would be willing to accept
a reduced salary if the league reduced its reliance on gambling dollars.

Wagering and AFL industry sources estimated that the Sportsbet (formerly BetEasy) deal was worth $12 million to $13 million a year — almost enough to cover one of the 18 clubs’ salary cap for players.


Attitudes to wagering on footy — and concern about the proliferation of wagering advertising on football broadcasts — has become an increasingly fraught issue, with more scrutiny of the betting firm’s increased presence in the country’s biggest
sports and media.

The 800-plus AFL players receive 28 per cent of the Sportsbet deal, just as they receive 28 per cent of all football-related revenue that is earned by the clubs and the AFL.

In an email to AFL-accredited player agents last month, the AFL Players’ Association outlined the choice for players on participating in the Sportsbet promotions.


The letter said that players could have their image used in these ways: “four or more players in the one match-day image equally represented”; or in vision “when the player is featured” in short clips.


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The letter said players could opt out if they had “genuine personal, moral or ethical objection to the use of their image” or if they felt it was “detrimental to the player’s reputation or inconsistent with a demonstrable brand strategy
implemented on behalf of the player”.

If players did not specify they had opted out, it would be “deemed that they do not have an objection to the use of their image by Sportsbet/BetEasy”.

The AFL was contacted for comment.


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Jake Niall
Jake Niall is a Walkley award-winning sports journalist and chief AFL writer for The Age.Connect via Twitter or email.
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