Rob Reacts to... AFL Players That FORCED Law Changes

[@Ozvideo1959]

The rule known as the Kevin Bartlett Rule was no doubt a refinement of the rules in response to what he was doing, Bartlett was a champion regardless of the rules. Other players used to do it too, they would grab the ball, run with it and bounce it whenever they were about to be tackled. It made it very difficult to tackle.Daryl Baldock, I remember used to do it too.

[@Kaleen_YT]

haha this is so cool, thanks for reacting to my video!

[@top40researcher31]

During general play, players may position themselves anywhere on the field and use any part of their bodies to move the ball. The primary methods are kicking, handballing and running with the ball. *If a player marks the ball (catches it from a long enough kick), they are awarded possession and allowed a free kick.*

[@TBoneTony]

Gary Ablett Senior was another player of the past that I remember you saying he looks like an old man. Maybe it was the way how the players lived at the time during the 70s, 80s and 90s before Athleticism took priority of what it takes to be an AFL player. Back in the day, you didn't have to be an athlete to be a Footballer, even Justin Madden during the 1996 Documentary of Australian Rules Football claimed that he was one of the last players to be a non-athletic footballer.

[@jwanganeen]

Byron Pickett (North, Port, Melb) was a Port premiership player (2004) and Norm Smith Medalist (2004) he also won the premiership with North Melbourne (1999) and he was essentially, but slowly pushed out of the game. He put fear in people and past players have talked about needing to have your head on a swivel and knowing Byrons whereabouts on the field at all times. He would flatline people, sometimes clean sometimes dirty but he hit people like a truck. They brought in the bumping rule that essentially killed his career just because he played that way. Should watch Byron Pickett highlights youll see why

[@madswansfan1]

In Australia, at the soccer, the clock doesn’t stop when it hits the 90 min mark.

[@ronjohns9592]

For ducking to a high tackle, look at them raising the elbow to make the tacklers arms being forced up to above the shoulder.

[@macman1469]

When i was a kid 60s 70s . If you kicked out like Toby Greene it would be " going for the man " or " kicking in danger " . Didnt understand why he wasnt taught this as a kid .

[@ianhinson2829]

Same. If they hadn't stopped enforcing old rules they wouldn't need new ones. Kicking in danger is one, but also 'holding the man' (aka. held when not in possession) is overlooked far too often.

[@shenysys]

Not Aussies rules but Billards - Walter Lindrum was so good at Billards that the rules were changed to handicap him.

[@shmick6079]

“Ducking” perhaps is the wrong word, but lowering their height is the issue being highlighted.

[@wrangazz]

It's not really ducking, it's more dropping the knees or lifting the arms to move the tacklers arms to the head... It's more playing for head high contact that they are trying to stop as concussions are a very big problem at the moment

[@philipandrew1626]

An area not covered by the video is where a tackled player deliberately falls forward so that the tackling player falls into their back; giving away a free kick for 'pushing in the back'.

[@wrangazz]

To be fair to toby the umpire thing was 2 years ago in 2021 and hasnt been suspended since and he has mutured an unbelievable amount VC last year and as captain this year and was even named all australian captain this year. He is a top 5 player in the comp and i am so glad he has taken the dirty tactics out of his game

[@gangstertopo]

With the deliberate rush behind rule, it hardly happens anymore now, as players are usually able to get the ball out, or rush it only when under pressure.

[@Nina-rj4nu]

What was done to Don Bradman was right up there with the most unsportsmanlike acts ever.

[@AussieTVMusic]

the Kevin Bartlett Rule was bought during my junior footy days. wrecked my free kick stats

[@Kidrodeo1000]

Thanks for your thoughts on the players who’s actions forced rule changes in the AFL. I found the players ‘ducking the head’ rule was always a controversial rule as some umpires had a different interpretation as to how the new rule should be applied. In the end I think each incident should be judged on its own merits with player safety being paramount. The NRL have in recent years clamped down on head high tackles much to the chagrin of some old timers who prefer the ruthlessness of old school tackling. This was brought to a head in the 2014 season when Melbourne Storm were playing against the Newcastle Knights and Melbourne captain Cameron Smith tackled Alex McKinnon . McKinnon ducked his head trying to gain a penalty as Smith laid the tackle. The end result was McKinnon suffered fractures to the C4th and C5th vertebrae in his back and is now a quadriplegic. It was an unfortunate accident but highlights the reasons how ducking into head high tackles is not the wisest idea. I’m sure you can find footage of this incident on KZbin, it’s worth having a look at. Anyway, great reaction Rob. All the best to you and Charlie Cheers, Rod and Kaz. 👍🏼👍🏼

[@intelsonic8020]

As others have said ducking isn't 100% accurate, the more accurate wording is that players would tuck their arms in by their sides and when being tackled raise their arms up forcing the tackling players arm around their neck and drawing a high free kick for a legitimate tackle attempt.

[@Aka_daka]

The ducking rule is a very tough one to officiate imo, I agree their not ducks you should be allowed to avade the tackler. It's a fine line between what could be judged an evade or a duck really it's up to individual umpire discretion. I feel like the AFL make things more grey area when trying to make the game better when it should be the other way around & make it more black & white. I still think people get unfairly judged by it like Ginnivan and I also feel like it's not being adjudicated properly.

[@Ozvideo1959]

I agree. I'm a Geelong supporter so maybe I'm biased, but in many cases Selwood would actually shrug the tackle higher, so a legal tackle suddenly strayed high. But I will say in many, many of the cases Joel Selwood received free kicks for high contact, he had the ball, and had broken the tackle. One rule change they didn't mention is the 3rd man up in the ruck, Adam Goodes did it for years, so did many others. They should call that "The Blicavs rule" cause when he got too good at it, they suddenly banned it.

[@just_passing_through]

Back in the 70s and 80s, NRL and AFL players all had day jobs. They weren’t paid the hundreds of thousands of dollars by the leagues, like they are now. I’ll bet there are many current players who have lost their hair (or receding) but when you are paid $400,000 a year you can afford to get that ‘fixed’ - and the procedures weren’t always available back then anyway. Up until the early 80s when players names were displayed on the TV, their profession would be displayed alongside their name. Most of them worked for the major sponsor of the team so they could get any and all time off that was required for training, games, travel, injury down time etc. Some of the top players were paid enough to not need full time jobs, but that was very rare. The majority of players only earned a ‘fee’ for each game they played in.

[@utha2665]

Kevin Bartlett in the 2nd clip from the 1980 Grand Final was 37 years old. TBH, I never knew that there wasn't a law for holding the ball while bouncing. I thought that was always the case. You learn something new every day. I recall when the ducking exception was introduced, the Selwood brothers were very good at getting free kicks using this method. Unfortunately these examples were very bad ones, except for the first one at 7:21, you can see his knees buckle as he tries to duck. I agree Rob, a card system needs to be introduced, for far too long players get away with taking out a player and their team isn't penalised when the other team is effectively a player down.

[@jenniferharrison8915]

Yes, just using the clock to disallow the other team time to score, is really normal in most team sports! Taking someone out brutally, on purpose, is just common assault! A safe, held catch is a mark! (Go the Hawks! 😁) It's not boxing or wrestling, yes more red cards! 😠

[@TBoneTony]

True, Red Cards for violent conduct. But it has to be worded extremely carefully so people don't try to abuse it the other way. (Soccer being the example I use as a reason why Red Cards need to be used carefully to avoid Staging)

[@RobReacts1]

Red cards in football 99% of the time are fairly straight forward

[@Darksoull.]

They are not ducking as in bending over at the waist. What they are doing is dropping their knees. it has the same effect and is far less detectable by the umpires. Think of it this way. The tackler is going to grab you around probably the upper arm area, you only have to bend you lower leg the distance from middle of your upper arm to where your neck is, and that isn't very far. Just that slight dropping of the knees makes the difference between a legal tackle and a high tackle free kick. Coupled with lowering their whole body, they usually wait for the tackle to start and then they lift their arm to force the tacklers arm to slide up over their shoulder. This all happens so quickly that at full speed it looks to the umpire like a high tackle, and effectively it is, even though it's a high tackle designed and bought on by the person being tackled. It's the AFL's equivalent of Diving. :/

[@gamortie]

6:04 better nutrition, better fitness, a tendency to shave your head if your hair’s receding, fewer direct toxins (e.g. smoking)….

[@RobertBatchelor]

Better TVs.

[@Packager]

15:12 G'day, Rob. This is unrelated to footy talk, but d'ya reckon when you two visit next, you'll audition for a spot on Hard Quiz? That'd be interesting. What would your special topic be?

[@jenniferharrison8915]

Go The Blues! ⭐🎉 (Oops Swans! 😊) 😄 Bon Voyage Charlie & Rob! 🤗

[@RobReacts1]

haha its not great at half time for the bloods

[@jenniferharrison8915]

@@RobReacts1 Yes, but it's the final siren that counts! 😟

[@jenniferharrison8915]

@@RobReacts1 Sorry, next year!?

[@Tommyboiii_]

UP THE BAGGERS

[@gregoryparnell2775]

Rugby Union ,Rugby League ,AFL & to a lesser extent Football (Soccer). has seen a huge crackdown on rough contact especially with the head .And there are a couple of reasons for this. One is the long term damage to the players health & the other is the league boards don't want huge lawsuits for Negligence. The poor blokes with the whistles don't know whether they are Arthur or Martha because the rules keep changing according to the public reaction & sometimes they even change mid season .Last season in the NRL it was Chaos as there were several players going to the sin bin in the space of a few minutes for a hand hardly touching an opponents head & the game became a Farce.

[@jonsant7232]

I remember the rushed behind being pretty common before the rules changed. I couldn't see much ducking in those examples maybe they lowered their bodies a little but the rule makes sense. Time wasting was and still is very common but as for taking forever to kick the ball has been fixed. As for Toby Green, he was a dirty player that's why I still dislike him and this year he was awarded all-Australian captain SMH. Another rule that didn't last was touching the Referee even if accidental put you on report, and The ref throwing the ball up instead of bouncing it every time is much better but the centre bounce should stay. You must be almost on the plane Rob I hope you and Charlie have a good flight to Perth and did you hear the Grand Final parade will be on the streets again instead of that terrible river thing they did last year. Remarking on your final comments I remember when fights were common place in rugby league and the AFL real full on all in punch ups weren't un heard of and when it was stamped out some people complained it was making the game soft, an old saying was "I went to the fight and a Rugby game broke out" now every head contact is taken very seriously as it should be as I know from personal experience! C'mon Saints❗️🔴⚪️⚫️

[@gregoryparnell2775]

Maybe because everyone wore hats all day long back in those days ? And they were heavy rabbit felt .

[@goannaj3243]

Starting to agree with red card as it doesn't mean the team will be a man down on the field, but -1 on bench will hurt. And the offending player will be out.

[@RobReacts1]

No the team should be 1 man down. Thats the deterrent.

[@brycejames8770]

It’s more like they are lowering their stature, notice bent knees.

[@michaelmayo9048]

Sydney is finished beaten by Carlton...they can't win in Melbourne. It is harder playing away from home the MCG has a bigger playing area, it makes a difference.

[@RobReacts1]

Yea I watched. Poor kicking and poor decision making cost us

[@rossstringer828]

Go the BAGGERS

[@mariodiguglielmo9116]

If you lift your arm up . The tacklers will slip up to the head

[@philllynch3265]

Bad choice of videos Rob. I like the idea of 10 minute send off as in rugby. and further suspension.

[@stephenbembridge9118]

he not the same age ...he's in his 30 something

[@michaelmayo9048]

I got more hair than you rob and I'm 60 in November and their are lots of people in there 30s that l look younger ..l can do most things better than alot of 30 year olds..l do ride motorcross style dirtbike riding and it is the most physical demanding sport in the world. 🇦🇺 😊

[@-Jamaal_Tootell.42396]

Hello

[@fionajones9582]

Hi

[@jonsant7232]

Hey, how's it going?

[@DavidPola1961]

Its all turning soft and GAY suspensions for a bump what a joke its getting like soccer .

[@RobReacts1]

Not even remotely true