The Lance Franlin rule comes into effect.

[chadjaja]

Hopefully this negates the hands in the back rule and some players know for taking a dive with arms flailing will have to certainly change

THE AFL Academy Awards are over, with players caught diving for free kicks to be reported and fined up to $2400.

League bosses have unveiled a raft of changes to the AFL Tribunal system, with stagers who exaggerate contact to be punished by the match review panel.

What do you think of the new tribunal rules? Have your say below PLUS blog live with Robbo from noon today.

Blatant acts of staging will receive a reprimand for a first offence, a $1600 fine for a second and a $2400 fine for all subsequent breaches.

But the fear of being named and shamed as a faker is what AFL chiefs hope will stamp out one of the biggest blights on the game.

"Academy Award"-winning tumbles featuring Hawthorn's Lance Franklin, Collingwood's Alan Didak, St Kilda's Stephen Milne and Port Adelaide's Kane Cornes were part of a video on the AFL website yesterday that was a guide to footy's newest offence - "Staging Misconduct".

Anderson said the AFL had decided against awarding a free kick against a player deemed to have staged a fall.

"We talked to the umpires about that and with the clubs, but the general feeling was that it was best to leave it to the match review panel ... because you'd hate an umpire to pay a wrong decision for staging when a player wasn't," he said.

Western Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade supported the clampdown.

"It's pretty severe acting, not so much staging for a free kick," Eade said.

"It's the ones where they are trying to con the umpire.

" I think it's a pretty good idea ... take it out of the game."

West Coast coach John Worsfold welcomed the staging penalties, but said it was not an issue for his club.

"It's going to take a lot to knock us over, we're fair dinkum," he said.

"No one's happy to see it. If it's now a chance to be penalised, I don't think we'll see it at all.

"In the past players have known there's no penalty for it and you might get a free kick, so there was no down side, but there is now. I think it's a bigger deterrent. We'll see it go out of the game."

AFL umpiring director Jeff Gieschen also welcomed the crackdown.

"I think through the ages we know which players do tend to throw themselves around a bit and I think this is just a little bit of a wake-up call for everybody, let's just get on with the game," Gieschen said.

"That public naming and shaming you could call it of guys who continually stage will come up and we think that will act as a really strong deterrent."

Bone-jarring tackles laid by the Brisbane Lions' Jed Adcock on Bulldog Jason Akermanis and Adelaide's Michael Doughty on Didak in last year's finals - both of which escaped penalty - were cited by the AFL yesterday as reportable offences under new rough conduct rules relating to tackling.

And extra protection has been handed to players standing the mark, with opponents who deliberately land a heavy bump on an unsuspecting player to be reported for rough conduct.

Tougher penalties and demerit points for headbutts and eye-gouging will also be enforced this season.

But in some good news for players, fines for negligent contact with an umpire have been reduced, while rookie-listed players on minimum wages will have fines capped at 50 per cent of their match payments, regardless of the offence committed.

Setanta O'hAilpin's infamous attack on then Carlton teammate Cameron Cloke in a practice match also triggered a tribunal change, with the AFL withdrawing its right to report players in intraclub matches, other than incidents involving umpires.

O'hAilpin was rubbed out for four weeks by the match review panel last February.

"The AFL examines its tribunal system every year and we will continue to do so, to see if we can continue to improve it," Anderson said.

"The game is being played in a great spirit, which is the overall objective of the tribunal system, and last year's Grand Final is a classic example of that. Most of the changes are relatively minor in the scheme of things."

Anderson said 68 games were lost through suspension last season, the lowest total since 1985.

Total fines imposed on players in 2009 was $101,700.

 

[hawksforever]

Another grey area rule. What a load of bollocks. Football used to be such a fantastic game where I would look forward to every season.
At least basketball is still basketball but you can have your football formally the greatest sport on earth.

 

[LickwidGreen]

Another grey area rule. What a load of bollocks. Football used to be such a fantastic game where I would look forward to every season.
At least basketball is still basketball but you can have your football formally the greatest sport on earth.

Would have to agree with you there, I still love the game and cant wait for it to start back up but lets get real here... Footy ages ago was so much better than what it is now...

Bring back the biff i say.... we grew up playing footy without all the C*** rules and loved it..

They get paid enough and know the risks involved of possibly getting injured... AFL is certainly going soft..

Thats my opinion.

 

[Wattsup]

What a pity Matthew Lloyd has now retired, it would've been sweet justice to see him get caught out every week with this rule. Cost my mob a game one year when he dived in front of Alistair Nicholson, conned the umpire into a free and kicked the winning goal. Not that I'm still filthy about it or anything!

 

[boofhead]

Re: The Matthew Lloyd rule comes into effect.

What a pity Matthew Lloyd has now retired, it would've been sweet justice to see him get caught out every week with this rule. Cost my mob a game one year when he dived in front of Alistair Nicholson, conned the umpire into a free and kicked the winning goal. Not that I'm still filthy about it or anything!

May it should be referred to as the Matthew Lloyd rule then

 

[nenjabin]

Should definitely be the Lloyd rule...or perhaps the Wangerneen rule? Or for a more current feel, the "Didak/Milne Award for better acting than anyone ever on Home and Away" It's a long name, but then they have a long history of it

 

[boofhead]

Should definitely be the Lloyd rule...or perhaps the Wangerneen rule? Or for a more current feel, the "Didak/Milne Award for better acting than anyone ever on Home and Away" It's a long name, but then they have a long history of it

I like it, what ever you call it the new rule is a great idea otherwise AFL will get be getting mixed up with other sports.

 

[BorderMailSpecial]

Or for a more current feel, the "Didak/Milne Award for better acting than anyone ever on Home and Away"

That would be the bulk of the Australian population right in line for that award.

 

[Dalbs]

Would have to agree with you there, I still love the game and cant wait for it to start back up but lets get real here... Footy ages ago was so much better than what it is now...

Bring back the biff i say.... we grew up playing footy without all the C*** rules and loved it..

They get paid enough and know the risks involved of possibly getting injured... AFL is certainly going soft..

Thats my opinion.

I agree 100% completely, Dimwit and Anderson need to take a spoonful of cement and the F%^# UP.

 

[BLOWN8]

watching the geelong vs north game on the weekend i think theres another rule that needs looking at. players who drop down when being tackled standing up in order to gain a free for a high tackle. it should be play on, if i see joel selwood do this one more time im gonna scream

 

[nenjabin]

watching the geelong vs north game on the weekend i think theres another rule that needs looking at. players who drop down when being tackled standing up in order to gain a free for a high tackle. it should be play on, if i see joel selwood do this one more time im gonna scream

Easy fixed, aim for his hips to tackle, like they should be, and you'll never take him high, EVER.

 

[BLOWN8]

Easy fixed, aim for his hips to tackle, like they should be, and you'll never take him high, EVER.

easier said than done. a good point but my point is your allowed to tackle anywhere below the shoulders, if the only place you can tackle is just below the chest then thats where you tackle them. even if you tackled him at waist height and he drops to his knees theres still a chance the tackle will slip high isnt there! what im saying is if a player drops to his knees in order to gain a free then its play on, and selwood seems to be doing it a lot, but he'll learn pretty quick when someone takes his head off i think the umpires just need to get a little smarter with this one!

 

[evilhomer74]

Ah yes, the good 'ol 'fall down in a screaming heap' tactic.

With all of this and running into opposition head first to win a free kick, someone will break their neck sooner than later, & the AFL will have a major sh*t storm to deal with.

It's not tough footy, it's absolute stupidity.

 

[BLOWN8]

Ah yes, the good 'ol 'fall down in a screaming heap' tactic.

With all of this and running into opposition head first to win a free kick, someone will break their neck sooner than later, & the AFL will have a major sh*t storm to deal with.

It's not tough footy, it's absolute stupidity.

spot on there with those comments. if the umpires get on top of it now there wont be a problem in the future, the players will just stop doing it coz they will know they wont get anything out of it and it will be play on. easy fix to a big problem!