Footy’s best rule is killing the game.

At its core, the holding-the-ball rule is simple and beautiful.

Aussie Rules is based on having the ball and winning it back. When you have possession, you have a chance to do something simple, unexpected or brilliant.

When you don’t, you must win it back, before the opposition breaks your hearts.

The rule encourages players to be first to the ball, pick it up and dispose correctly.

If you possess the ball but get tackled before having the opportunity to get rid of it then it’s a ball up. It’s footy’s stalemate and it upholds the balance of the game.

That balance is gone.

The ball carrier has been stripped of their rights and it’s beginning to strangle the game.

The law of the rule is “beautifully written”, says former field umpire Ray Chamberlain.

The rule determines, “it the player is able to but does not make a genuine attempt” then the player should be adjudged holding the ball.

Yet the current umpiring standard assumes this ability simply because one arm is free.

Since when have we expected a human being to be able to kick the ball while a 100kg bloke hangs off their back, pins one arm and constricts their legs.

Apparently in 2025.

This is the exact situation the Bulldogs key defender Jedd Busslinger found himself in on Thursday night. He picked up the ball, was immediately tackled by the Giants Jake Riccardi, had one arm pinned behind his back and both legs constrained, while also being rotated around.

But because Busslinger had one arm free the umpire expected him to magically grow a third limb in order to make a genuine attempt to dispose the ball.

The umpires have decided that the mere sight of a free arm means a player must somehow, in that split-second, throw the ball at their feet in a “genuine attempt” to get rid of it.

It doesn’t even matter whether the ball makes contact with your boot or not.

Not only have they corrupted the holding-the-ball rule, but they have sucked the life out of what is a correct disposal.

The game I grew up watching required a handball or kick in that situation. Not a frivolous attempt. I know the footy fans still feel the same way because every time the ball is dropped in a tackle the crowd erupts.

Players have figured the only safe way to avoid being pinged holding the ball is to not even attempt to dispose of it.

Players now grab the ball out of the air and immediately pin the ball to their own chest in anticipation of a tackle.

They are rewarded by not being pinned for a free kick.

The game I remember encouraged players to raise their arms above the tackle to absorb the contact and handball to a teammate. This fundamental of the game is all but lost due to the players fear of immediately having an arm pinned in the tackle.

Average stoppages per game are the highest we have seen since 2015 at 70.4 per game.

Game lengths are the longest since 1999, averaging 127.3 minutes, which isn’t because of end-to-end scoring like the 1980s. It’s because of endless stoppages, repeat tackles, and umpires having to constantly reset play.

Even worse, repeat stoppages have become an epidemic. This year repeat stoppages have exploded to 22 per game (the highest Champion Data have ever recorded). That’s almost double what it was in 2021 (13.6).

This is not how the game is meant to be played; it looks more like wrestling match with a whistle.

The game is essentially asking the ball carrier to swing a flailing boot at the ball mid-tackle. A dangerous situation for players in an era where we need to protect the head.

In Thursday night’s example the umpires were asking Busslinger to throw a wild boot at the ball while being rotated 360 degrees. It’s an accident waiting to happen.

Players are petrified to get their hands free and it’s killing the game. It’s simple.

The AFL must stop penalising players who actually attempt to win the footy. Not whatever we are watching at the moment.

It’s just not footy.

Holding the ball is killing our game.