AFL makes mid-season change to controversial holding the ball rule after criticism from Damien Hardwick

Coaches believe the AFL’s mid-season change to the contentious holding-the-ball rule won’t have a major impact.

After weeks of backlash from coaches and fans, the AFL hierarchy has directed umpires to shorten the “reasonable time’‘ component of the rule.

The move comes after some coaches expressed confusion at how the law was being implemented.

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge says, regardless of the change, the holding-the-ball rule will remain difficult for umpires to adjudicate.

“It’s still going to be hard for the umpires, that’s the bottom line,” Beveridge told reporters on Wednesday.

“Tackles don’t last that long, it’s so hard for the guys and girls out there with the whistle in their hand to get it right.

“I don’t think there’s going to be much change from what’s transpired over the last week, there really can’t be much change.”

Columnist for The Nightly Leigh Matthews wrote on Tuesday that he was happy players were being given more time to dispose of the ball other but other rules were not being enforced strongly enough.

He was critical of a new era of what he called ‘minimalist umpiring” where high tackles and and push in the back free kicks were also not being awarded readily enough.

“Over recent seasons high contact and in the back free kicks have been rarely paid,” he wrote.

“To my eye this year at least the player with the ball has been given much more latitude and fewer holding the balls are being awarded.

“I’m quite happy with that umpiring evolution, although many disagree including the majority of the coaches.”

Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks described the change as “a minor adjustment”.

“It’s an important one we don’t make too big a deal of,” Nicks told reporters.

“There’s not a lot of change in it. We’re going down the right path, it’s player welfare that we’re looking at.

“There may be a reaction and it might be overdone slightly in the first couple of games where it’s a little sharper on holding the ball, but that’s OK.

“We’re not changing rules because we don’t like the game, we’re changing rules or adjusting parts of the game for player welfare ... we’re doing it for the right reasons.”

Umpires attended Collingwood’s training on Wednesday to help coach Craig McRae’s team adjust to the fresh interpretation.

“They officiated like it would be officiated going forward ... we’re aware of what is going on,” McRae told reporters.

“I would love to reward the tackle more.

“That has always been a focus of our group, that we want to pressure well, so a few more rewards would be nice.”

The AFL said the holding-the-ball rule remained a weekly focus for umpires.

“It has become clearer throughout the season that in discharging their duty of care whilst executing a tackle, tacklers are positively electing not to take tackled players to ground in the tackle or are generally doing so in a reasonable way including by not using excessive force,” the league said in a statement on Wednesday.

“As a consequence, we are seeing players hold on to the ball slightly longer and challenging the definition of ‘reasonable time’.

“Our umpires are clear on the interpretation of holding the ball and it continues to be a focus of umpire coaching each week.

“We want to ensure our clubs, coaches and players understand the rules and how they are being officiated.”

Carlton’s Michael Voss, Gold Coast’s Damien Hardwick and Geelong’s Chris Scott are among coaches in the past week to express confusion about the rule.

Hardwick, after the Suns’ loss to Carlton, said the length of time taken to pay holding the ball free kicks was creating a “very, very dangerous situation”.

The triple-premiership coach said umpires needed to “pay a free kick or blow the whistle”.

“What I will say is 131 effective tackles today and there were four holding the balls for both sides,” he said post-game.

“We’ve just got to get on top of this because the players certainly owe each other a duty of care, but as umpires we’ve got to blow the whistle earlier.

“Because the reality is they’re putting players in a really compromising position that they could get hurt, and we don’t want that.

“So we’ve got to look at it. We’ve got to coach it.

“I know it’s incredibly hard, but from a player’s health and wellbeing point of view, we’ve just got to make sure for the benefit of the game that we look after the players.”

Voss said after that game he would follow up with the AFL while Geelong’s flag-winning coach Scott added his voice to a chorus of concern.

“The players are in an incredibly difficult position at the moment,” he told Fox Footy on Monday night.

“The tribunal have clearly said that if you pin the ball carrier’s arm ... (and a) head hits the ground, that’s a dangerous tackle.

“It’s a real coaching challenge at the moment.”