Yes Polly. Personally, I would rather the rushed behind and the out of bounds rule to have never been introduced.
The umpire still has to be quite certain (benefit of doubt clause) that a player's intent was to rush a behind. A player going the spoil and knocking the ball across the goal/behind line is mostly intending to spoil the mark. I'm pretty sure Spurr intended for his soccer kick to cross the goal/behind line. Had Spurr kicked the ball softer and chased it to the line then, by the law, he could have got away with it.
From what I understand, the AFL have been pushing these new rules (eg. interchange caps, out of bounds and rushed behinds intentionally) in an effort to make the game more free flowing and higher scoring. Well so far, the stats for 2016 show more Free Kicks are being paid (about 2 per team per game more than the average for the last 10-20years). The stoppages are still high averaging about 10 per team per game more than they were 10 years ago and goals scored have stayed about the same.
I just want the AFL to stop thinking they are smart enough to be able to mould the game in a direction they think is more marketable and attractive. Leave it be and let it naturally progress ... and tell the umpires to just apply the laws as written and stop trying to be centre stage. It's extra frustrating as a Freo supporter when we seem to get so many of these 50/50 "rules with interpretation" decisions going against us.
