I can assure you that the game reached its zenith in season 2007 MD. Unfortunately only one team had the secret. Check out the Cats/Roos 07 prelim final. Sublime.

Agree Doosra. Was going to put that in as one area which needs urgent attention. Flicks aren't handpasses and when both hands travel forward to pass the ball it should generally be pinged imo. Getting too far away from what a handball originally was because of the intense pressure and speed of the game.

Might be a bit of truth in what you say Kidlat but for the most part I'm watching a very different game to you. There are plenty of free flowing matches every season. Some of the high intensity shut-down type games, while not being a joy to watch from a purist sense, are terrific contests. For me the best games are somewhere in between.

I've read a lot of railing in recent years about rule changes from the "leave it alone" mob but I admit I'm hard-pressed to find any recent change which hasn't improved the game. Deliberate rushed behinds, hands in the back, chopping the arms, deliberate OOB, out on the full, diving on the ball and locking it in. The interpretations are sometimes wrong but that will occur no matter what you do.

I love the 120 minutes. Compared to the paltry 60 minutes of action in rugby and marginally more in league it's a fan's dream. Unique game, one of the best sports in the world, and it hasn't gone backwards since I started following it many decades ago.

There's a lot of truth in that Kidlat. For example the throw is now a normal part of these frenzied passages of play. Once in a while the umpire will blow the whistle on a particularly blatant example but mostly not.

Is it AFL or NRL for God's sake?

Makes me mad to see endless instances of incorrect disposal and what's worse - the players are obviously coached to do just that, in the name of keeping pace with this supposedly "improved" version of the game.

I agree with the rule in principle but the interpretation certainly needs some work. My understanding is that coaches agreed to it as a duty of care after the stats showed the practice was leading to significant injury - although I admit I always thought the latest change was also designed to protect the head/neck of the slider, not just the shins of the upright player as suggested by one commentator on the weekend.

I didn't like the way players were increasingly using the ploy to get a free kick for head high contact and at the same time risking injury to themselves and others. It isn't, as one comment suggested "impossible to adjudicate" but it takes judgement and better direction from Geishen. Hodge should have been penalised on Sunday, Hayes in an earlier round not penalised.

Also saw a classic rushed behind penalty overlooked in the Swans-Roos game when Hyphen stepped back over the line simply to avoid being tackled. Seems that law has slipped into umpire oblivion although players are mostly observing it extremely well.

If the Hawks-Pies game is anything to go by the rule which has been totally thrown out without fanfare is incorrect disposal. So many throws/inept attempts to handball that it wasn't funny. I know it was wet but I think the umps were overly generous in their interpretation of what was "trying". The players quickly caught on though.