Is the play-the-ball now an anachronism?

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The Who

Journey Man
Yes, we've had more than enough rule changes. But do we still need -play-the-balls?
Their purpose is to restart play following a tackle. Why can't the tackled player simply regain his feet, turn and pass the ball to a teammate to achieve what would be a much cleaner result?
Originally the play-the-ball was a contest where the defender could strike at, or rake, the ball in an attempt to gain possession.
That is no longer allowed. So what is the point of a ritual which these days looks messy, leads to frustration and penalties, and causes confusion... did he regain his feet correctly? Did his foot rake the ball? Did the dummy half 'bobble' the ball when picking it up? Did the defender interfere in any way? Were the markers square?
The play-the-ball is an unattractive aspect of the sport, so why not banish it like so many other rules? Have the ref instruct the tackler to regain his feet and instruct him to pass the ball? Simple, clean, effective and much less likely to result in a penalty.

OK, rip into this idea!
 
To seriously question this idea though, would that mean the player tackled could only pass and not run?

So we are doing away with quick darts from the play the ball?

And if they can run at what point can the marker tackle them, as soon as that are on their feet?

Half on their feet, as soon as there arms are off the ground?

It would be an absolute mess.

Cannot conceivably see how such a rule would even viably work let alone improve the game.
 
That's a very big word. Had to look at images to best describe its meaning..
images (61).jpeg
 
how does the defence get back on side in time? ... or are you going to get rid of off-side as well ..
 
PSS ... I think some will need this

An anachronism (from the Greek ἀνά ana, 'against' and χρόνος khronos, 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common type of anachronism is an object misplaced in time, but it may be a verbal expression, a technology, a philosophical idea, a musical style, a material, a plant or animal, a custom, or anything else associated with a particular period that is placed outside its proper temporal domain. (An example of that would be films including dinosaurs and prehistoric human beings living side by side, but they were, in reality, millions of years apart.)
 
To seriously question this idea though, would that mean the player tackled could only pass and not run?

So we are doing away with quick darts from the play the ball?

And if they can run at what point can the marker tackle them, as soon as that are on their feet?

Half on their feet, as soon as there arms are off the ground?

It would be an absolute mess.

Cannot conceivably see how such a rule would even viably work let alone improve the game.
1. The tackled player has to regain his feet and pass the ball. He cannot run (just the same as the current play-the-ball rules, and unlike the original rule which allowed the ball to be kicked forward)
2. His teammate who receives the pass is the same as being one off the ruck, and can choose to dart, pass, kick etc
3. Provided the marker is onside (directly in front of the player he has tackled) he can tackle the ball receiver.
4. Play resumes when the ref calls (PASS!), which is once the tackled player has fully regained his feet and once the tackler has been given time to regain his feet and stand in from of his opponent.
5. It would eliminate the mess associated with play-the-balls, imo.
6. It would simplify the rules and be a cleaner method of re-starting the action following a tackle.

(However. I could be wrong)
 
Yes, we've had more than enough rule changes. But do we still need -play-the-balls?
Their purpose is to restart play following a tackle. Why can't the tackled player simply regain his feet, turn and pass the ball to a teammate to achieve what would be a much cleaner result?
Originally the play-the-ball was a contest where the defender could strike at, or rake, the ball in an attempt to gain possession.
That is no longer allowed. So what is the point of a ritual which these days looks messy, leads to frustration and penalties, and causes confusion... did he regain his feet correctly? Did his foot rake the ball? Did the dummy half 'bobble' the ball when picking it up? Did the defender interfere in any way? Were the markers square?
The play-the-ball is an unattractive aspect of the sport, so why not banish it like so many other rules? Have the ref instruct the tackler to regain his feet and instruct him to pass the ball? Simple, clean, effective and much less likely to result in a penalty.

OK, rip into this idea!

I agree with the line of thought, but the rules have to be clear; as a start
▪Have the ref yell "held" when the tackle is completed.
▪Allow, say 5 seconds for the ruck to clear (no wrestling, holding down, flopping etc, all of which are a blight on today's game), at which time the ref yells "play"
▪The ball can then be promoted backwards, with no stoppage or penalty if it bobbles, is dropped, not played at with the foot (roll it back would be best) etc.
▪No penalties against the defender unless he infringes after the "play" call or is not straight or infringes in any other way.

This should give clean restart of play and get rid of ugly wrestling.
 
1. The tackled player has to regain his feet and pass the ball. He cannot run (just the same as the current play-the-ball rules, and unlike the original rule which allowed the ball to be kicked forward)
2. His teammate who receives the pass is the same as being one off the ruck, and can choose to dart, pass, kick etc
3. Provided the marker is onside (directly in front of the player he has tackled) he can tackle the ball receiver.
4. Play resumes when the ref calls (PASS!), which is once the tackled player has fully regained his feet and once the tackler has been given time to regain his feet and stand in from of his opponent.
5. It would eliminate the mess associated with play-the-balls, imo.
6. It would simplify the rules and be a cleaner method of re-starting the action following a tackle.

(However. I could be wrong)


So with no dummy half running and the player not being able to run is there a need for markers?

Do we do away with hookers then, play with 12?

Watching a Grant, Api or Cook scoot and probe around the ruck would be lost and the game would be worse for it imo.

IMO messing with the fabric of the game
 
PSS ... I think some will need this

An anachronism (from the Greek ἀνά ana, 'against' and χρόνος khronos, 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common type of anachronism is an object misplaced in time, but it may be a verbal expression, a technology, a philosophical idea, a musical style, a material, a plant or animal, a custom, or anything else associated with a particular period that is placed outside its proper temporal domain. (An example of that would be films including dinosaurs and prehistoric human beings living side by side, but they were, in reality, millions of years apart.)
I too had to look it up. And upon my fifth read thru it was evident that it wasn’t close to sinking into my fat head. Then I saw @Spartan Eagle s picture and it all made sense. Pictures=good.Big words=bad.


signals GIF
 
(However. I could be wrong)

I hesitate to even suggest it ...

Buuuut.. it is sounding a bit like roll ball touch .. and I can't see defenders getting off quick to let the player stand and pass the ball .. we could get wrestling on steroids.
 
I too had to look it up. And upon my fifth read thru it was evident that it wasn’t close to sinking into my fat head. Then I saw @Spartan Eagle s picture and it all made sense. Pictures=good.Big words=bad.


signals GIF

Many who deal with the recent graduates of our education system would agree .. reading, writing and comprehension have become an anachronism..
 
Ok, in all seriousness...no thanks.

It will speed the game up even further,or potentially slow it to a crawl.

It will lead to more inconsistentcy and grey areas as some teams will push boundaries of how quickly/slowly can the ball be passed to the dummyhalf.

Gives coaches even more scope to try and bend the rules, which in turn leads to even more rule changes.

It isn't footy without a PTB.
 
1. The tackled player has to regain his feet and pass the ball. He cannot run (just the same as the current play-the-ball rules, and unlike the original rule which allowed the ball to be kicked forward)
2. His teammate who receives the pass is the same as being one off the ruck, and can choose to dart, pass, kick etc
3. Provided the marker is onside (directly in front of the player he has tackled) he can tackle the ball receiver.
4. Play resumes when the ref calls (PASS!), which is once the tackled player has fully regained his feet and once the tackler has been given time to regain his feet and stand in from of his opponent.
5. It would eliminate the mess associated with play-the-balls, imo.
6. It would simplify the rules and be a cleaner method of re-starting the action following a tackle.

(However. I could be wrong)
I kind of get where you're coming from mate. the play the ball is an area of frustration due to lazy errors.
But this alternative idea is doing my head in even further! Yikes!
 
Is it like governors-general. I think the plural may be plays-the-ball, not play-the-balls.

The RU has an alternative to the play-the-ball and that's even worse.

In AFL the crowd screams out BAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWLLLLLLL and then the player drops the football.
 
In the words of Gould - "No no no no no"
Talk about speeding up the game !!
This is to Infinity and Beyond
As messed up and inconsistent as it is atm, this would make it a horror show and the sport would become more a bizarre version of Rugby union and though sloppy to adjudicate today...this would be impossible and create more problems than ever.
But I will say for those who like high scoring games, the average score would end up 86 - 58
 
PSS ... I think some will need this

An anachronism (from the Greek ἀνά ana, 'against' and χρόνος khronos, 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common type of anachronism is an object misplaced in time, but it may be a verbal expression, a technology, a philosophical idea, a musical style, a material, a plant or animal, a custom, or anything else associated with a particular period that is placed outside its proper temporal domain. (An example of that would be films including dinosaurs and prehistoric human beings living side by side, but they were, in reality, millions of years apart.)

Thank you, but now I'm going to need help with some of the words in here 😨
 

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