Well...from all the above comments, it is obvious that its a completely discretionary rule, and for that reason it is completely and utterly silly, and open to contempt and confusion.
A 65 m kick towards the general vicinity of goal should be encouraged, not discouraged, and only 'grandstanders' like Stevic and Razor Ray are gonna slant their discretion towards "nup, there was no way that 65m kick towards goal was anything other than a kick for the boundary line".
It's ridiculous, and if " make every attempt to keep the ball in play" is actually in place and evoked, then surely every contested mark that is spoiled by a fist to the boundary line is due to be penalized. (Which is why "The Fist" is actually more redundant than he actually is...!) Kicking down the line to a contested mark on the boundary line is also redundant ( Nice knowing you RoLy...!) And yet, countless number of times over this weekend's game, it was a ploy used by every team.
And, yet, a kick towards ones own goal is penalized?? Its simply stupefying!!
Nearly as stupid as the inconsistent "hip and shoulder" rulings at the tribunal. Just getting ridiculous, and it is destroying the game. Why the AwFL would like to create more confusion for players and spectators alike, is beyond me, and the only lot that think all this carp is 'fair and reasonable', are the "footballing intelligientsia" who like their academic, and leftest compatriots, have no idea what the "real world" is actually like.!!
The footballing doyens that actually sit on these rules committees and come up with these things, must surely be fed a lot of beer and cake, because surely they wouldn't have put up with a lot of this rot when they were playing...??
Players have split seconds to make decisions, and it must be bloody near impossible to play the game now, with the "slide in" rule, the 'don't duck rule", "the keep the ball in play", and the corroboration that the very simple "no third man up" rule has become.
That's why going to watch a bit of local footy is a more than enjoyable experience these days.