Fox Footy Jury: Dodgy holding the ball frees, Richmond’s locker room antics and how Port Adelaide is saving football

Port Adelaide’s attractive style under Ken Hinkley has been a godsend for the competition this season where too many clubs are trying to save games rather than win them. From dodgy holding the ball free kicks to Richmond’s locker room antics and attractive finals-like football, there has been a mix of all sorts of talking points. We asked two footy greats with six premierships between them for their take on all the hot topics. How did you see the Sam Petrevski-Seton holding the ball and was it a one-off? Jonathan Brown Three-time Brisbane premiership player My general belief is it’s going to help the game, the tightening of the holding the ball rule. But I think there will be a bit of a lag time for the players’ behaviours to change to keep the ball flowing. I do emphasise with the umpires who can’t really train together and can’t work on the consistency of their decisions. Clearly Petrevski-Seton was unlucky and there’s going to be mistakes along the way but I think we’ve just got to live with that, especially this season. Mark Maclure Three-time Carlton premiership player I thought it was out of control. Does anyone know what this rule is anymore? I don’t. I know the umpires have got a tough job trying to adjudicate the rules from the AFL, but they should make it clearer. You’ve got to make it simpler for the umpires to adjudicate. Have the AFL actually put out a notice on what it is? I haven’t seen it. How can the AFL adjudicate it if you’ve got 20 different umpires with 20 different opinions? Then you’ve got hundreds of thousands of people watching it who don’t have any idea either. What is the AFL football department doing? Are players now hesitant to pick up the ball or has the tightened holding the ball interpretation helped ball movement? JB: I think it’s helped ball movement. I haven’t seen the players scared of picking it up. Your natural inclination as a player will always be to get the ball, but players will have to become smarter at knocking the ball on and keeping the ball in motion, which is ultimately what the AFL wants. MM: I don’t mind it when they pay a free kick, but the free kick’s got to be right. But is it going to stop players going for the ball? Does it make players sweat on the opposition? These are the questions the AFL has to ask itself. What do they want their game to look like? When they define the rules, we’ll have a better idea. We’ve all been trained to go for the ball. We shouldn’t wait for someone else to get it. Do they want to reward the bloke that has the courage to get the ball, or not? Do players have to change their behaviour in the rooms – knowing the cameras are always on – in light of Richmond’s antics? JB: I certainly haven’t been involved in or seen any behaviour around the team song like that in the past, so it was very bizarre to be honest. I certainly back up Leigh Matthews’ comments that he hadn’t seen anything like that before. But I’m sure that’s a warning to the whole competition to keep your hands to yourself during the song. They need to get a garbage bin and bang that instead. MM: I’ve never seen anything like that before in my life, ever. If it had’ve happened, the bloke who did it would have been knocked out. Life’s changed a bit. It’s got a bit softer and people tolerate rubbish. But I’m telling you, that stuff’s just not on. Should Ken Hinkley be knighted for saving football with his focus on attack over defence? JB: Absolutely he should be knighted. It’s great to see. The teams that have played positive, attacking footy are the ones up the top of the ladder. West Coast, Port Adelaide, Brisbane, Richmond, St Kilda. The other thing, too, is they’ve got big forwards so you’ve got confidence to go forward. That’s probably what I’ve noticed among the top six or seven teams, the big forward that gives you confidence as a midfielder to drive it in there quicker. MM: Well, I like people who play to win. I love clubs who try to win games. I can’t stand watching clubs who try and save games. We’ve all been taught that if you play to win and you lose, not a big deal. You’ve had a good game, you’ve tried your best. The analogy of just hanging in there to try and save the game so you don’t get beat by a lot drives me mad, but that’s run by coaching staff. Port Adelaide and Brisbane and St Kilda are fantastic. Gold Coast is good. Richmond try and move it. They have a go. West Coast have a go. There’s a lot of teams who are positive, but we need to highlight it a lot more.