Rule Clarification - running across the mark

[Dis Believer]

I need to clarify something that wa said at the game the other night, and about 4 pepole agreed it was correct.

Has the rule about running across the mark changed? I was sure a Carlton plyer ran through the mark when one of our guys had the ball. The Carlton player was trying to stay with his man. I said it should have been a fifty meter penalty but about four people agreed that you can do that now as long as you are wtihin a certain distance of the player you are tagging?

That cannot be correct surely?

Especially given the way umpires love to dole out fifties against blokes for trying to stick to their man and infringing on the 5 meter "protected zone" (even when it has no impact on the game and they are within 5 metres behind the playe with the ball).

[CURLY]

You are allowed to follow an opponent is the restricted area.

[gringo]

Yeah I heard Derek Humpty- Dumpty -Smith say that was legal on SEN recently

[Dis Believer]

Thanks guys - shakes head.........

[On the Bench]

Here it is, it has changed a bit since my umpiring days with the introduction of the 5m behind the player with the free. It used to be that the player following the opponent had to be within 1 metre.

16.1.2 Protected area
The Protected Area is a corridor which extends from 5 metres
either side of the mark to 5 metres either side of, and a 5-metre
radius behind, the Player with the football, as illustrated in
Diagram 2. No Player shall enter and remain in the Protected
Area unless the field Umpire calls “Play On” or the Player is
accompanying or following within 5 metres of their opponent.

[Moorabbin Man]

It depends on whether the players leg is bent or straight.

[snowdelisaint]

But running into the restricted area is not the same thing as running across the line between the mark and player in posession. You still can't do that. You will often see two players (opponents) go into the restricted area, then one will cross the mark but the other can not without conceeding 50.

[Rosco]

if that was true then you would be allowed to follow your man into the protected area, but if he crosses the line of the mark you have to turn around and go back. I've never seen that happen.

[Jacks Back]

Here it is, it has changed a bit since my umpiring days with the introduction of the 5m behind the player with the free. It used to be that the player following the opponent had to be within 1 metre.

16.1.2 Protected area
The Protected Area is a corridor which extends from 5 metres
either side of the mark to 5 metres either side of, and a 5-metre
radius behind, the Player with the football, as illustrated in
Diagram 2. No Player shall enter and remain in the Protected
Area unless the field Umpire calls “Play On” or the Player is
accompanying or following within 5 metres of their opponent.

Diagram 2

[snowdelisaint]

if that was true then you would be allowed to follow your man into the protected area, but if he crosses the line of the mark you have to turn around and go back. I've never seen that happen.

Happens all the time! You see a teammate cut in front of the player with the ball, then his opponent runs around the back.

[Dis Believer]

SO is the answer that we don't really know the answer? Due, mainly, to the f****** rules committee feeling compelled to keep permanently tinkering with the game?

[perfectionist]

SO is the answer that we don't really know the answer??

No. You may not know what's going on, but I'm sure most others do. But I'll simplify it for you. If you are not with an opponent, you must stay out of the 5 metre protection area and you may not cross the mark, otherwise it is 50. If you are with an opponent, you can go where he goes without penalty. So what does "with an opponent" mean" ? It means that you are accompanying or following an opponent who is less than 5 metres from you. Now that is a fair distance when you think about it, in fact, exactly the same distance as you should be from the player with the ball. In practice, on both accounts, the 5 metres seems to shrivel to about 2 or 3 metres, especially when a player is shooting for goal on the boundary. Opponents never seem to be 5 metres away.