Dreamtime at the G - Essendon Vs Richmond
Saturday night 7.40pm - Melbourne Cricket Ground
Geelong, Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs Football Clubs remain undefeated after Round 8 of the Australian Football League (AFL) with an ever-growing self-belief.
It's always an indicator of strong teams to be able to come from behind to win and these three continue to exhibit these qualities this season.
In fourth place, Adelaide's consolidating win last weekend proves at this stage that they can throw a spanner in the works come finals time. They are one and half games behind the Bulldogs and one and a half ahead of a controversially-placed Sydney and North Melbourne.
Meanwhile, those two, along with seven other clubs, are talking up the importance of the next match in Round 9 in their season's ambitions. The remaining three of the 16-team competition are no longer capable of playing finals this September.
Dreamtime match
On paper there may be better matches to watch in the AFL's Indigenous Round, but the Essendon and Richmond one should make a good showcase and a dour contest between the thirteenth and twelfth placed clubs trying to stay in touch with the top eight. The looser will likely concede that they have no chance of playing finals.
With both clubs' long tradition of champion Indigenous players, the colourful pre-match entertainment always sets up an interesting mood and anticipation as the players step out onto the field.
The roots of AFL's background and the ongoing Indigenous Australian contribution to the game are well documented. And the Dreamtime at the G match is a celebration of that.
Tom Wills's (Australian Rules football code founder) knowledge of Aboriginal ways and love of sport found fertile ground in Australia for him to create a new game and to declare in 1859: "We shall have a game of our own" during a Melbourne Football Club meeting that he chaired.
Born near Gundagai, NSW in 1835, with a convict heritage that he was discriminated for, Wills grew up on a large property in western Victoria from a young age. At 14 he began studies at England's Rugby school and excelled in all sports, then returned to Australia in 1856.
In 1858 he umpired the first official Australian Rules match and was the original coach of the Australian Aboriginal cricket team the first ever team to leave these shores in the first Australian Cricket Tour of England in 1868.
With his family having strong ties with the Indigenous people in Ararat District, Wills spoke the local language of Djabwurrung and knew their songs and dances and strove as an advocate for human rights.
Coincidently, those unfamiliar with the language of the sport might see the word "mark" mentioned often in footy articles. It is the term used to define when a player kicks the ball and another catches it provided it travels more than 15 metres, and does not touch another player or the ground. The spot where the umpire adjudicates that the player has caught the ball is called "the mark" where the defending opponent stands. To take a "mark" is commonly believed by linguists to stem from an Aboriginal exclamation for catch (mumarki) during a game of marngrook. Some say it's because of an old habit of players marking the turf with the studs in the bottom of their boots during the game that also drew on rugby in its early rules.
Rule changes
Steeped in tradition, rules rarely change in AFL once a season has begun. Taking the bold step to change the rules mid-season in response to interchange problems was good to see last weekend – something had to be done.
Teams % points Geelong 144 32 Hawthorn 140 32 Western Bulldogs 132 30 Adelaide 128 24 Sydney 130 18 North Melbourne 100 18 Collingwood 107 16 Brisbane 104 16 St Kilda 96 16 Port Adelaide 99 12 Carlton 93 12 Richmond 96 10 Essendon 70 8 Fremantle 86 4 West Coast 70 4 Melbourne 59 4
But the change gives no relief to North Melbourne who may be disadvantaged at the end of the remaining 14 fixtures and into the finals series. The Round 6 draw (where Sydney had an extra man on the ground in the last minutes of the game and scored to level the scores) and the resultant $25,000 Sydney fine without awarding North Melbourne the win left many wondering about the wisdom in the AFL's brain's trust.
It's not surprising that in the modern-era's high bench rotations that most clubs have broken the rule at one time or another other. But the implications of the controversial match highlighted the fairness of maintaining 18 men for each team on the playing field at any one time – otherwise it's cheating.
Replacing the archaic rule of wiping the score back to zero after a captain calls for an official count that subsequently proves that the 18-man rule has been breached is sensible. With an interchange boundary-line outside the field of play being introduced, a free-kick and a 50-metre penalty will now be awarded if the 18-man rule is infringed. Hopefully, after a little tweaking on the new interchange line, along with players' and officials' familiarity, it should be effective.
Like all rule changes of the past, the ever-watchful eyes of fans and critics will be on the AFL, its players and match officials as they adapt and apply the rule.
It would be curious to find out how long it takes to see the rule filter through to other levels of Australian Rules football and into the International competitions.
Now if only incorrect calls from goal-umpires could be solved with the introduction of technology the game would seem that little bit fairer.
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