Fremantle forward Patrick Voss has exposed a glaring “loophole” within the AFL rulebook.
With time ticking down inside the final minute of the Dockers’ cut-throat semi-final with Geelong on Friday night, Voss had a shot at goal from no more than 12 metres out.
The game was essentially already over with Hawthorn needing to kick two goals in 60 seconds, but Voss made a certainty of it by legally milking the clock almost down to zero.
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Players having a shot at goal have 30 seconds to begin their approach but, once they start it, have no limits on how long they are allowed to take before kicking.
Understanding the situation perfectly, Voss started his approach well inside 30 seconds, but proceeded to then take 19 seconds to complete his run-up and kick the ball.
By the time the clock stopped, there were just six seconds left in the game and Fremantle had booked their spot into a preliminary final.
“I’ve referenced it a few times this year. The shot clock, which is 30 seconds, as long as that does not expire by the time you start your approach, you can take as long as you want to actually kick the goal,” Channel 7’s Kate McCarthy told The Round So Far.
“We’ve seen a few players start to exploit that this season and this is nothing wrong from Patrick Voss. This is a beautiful way to exploit a rule that is written in a way that I think probably needs tidying up now that we’ve seen players start to cotton on to it.
“He can technically take that back as far as he wants, he can walk in as slow as he wants.
“There was footage there of the umpire and Jack Henry having a chat about it and the umpire is virtually saying, ‘I can’t do anything about it. He started his approach, that is the rules’.
“You can’t stand there and time-waste. So if I’m standing here looking at the shot clock, making no attempt to start my run and I’ve still got 20 seconds to go, you can be called to move on then. But you can then take as long as you want to start your approach to have your shot at goal.
“So I think probably some more restrictions need to come in around that because now that players are starting to exploit it, which every good team and every good coach works out little loopholes in the rule, that one’s been worked out.
“And you’d hate something like that to sort of cost a team an opportunity to have a shot on goal to even things up.”
Xander McGuire added: “Well, he started his run-up with 29 seconds on the clock and the clock stopped at six seconds … so not bad from Patty Voss, but we need to do something about that.”
Fremantle now play Sydney at the SCG next Friday for a spot in the grand final, while Brisbane and Hawthorn will contest the other preliminary final in Melbourne on Saturday.
The Dockers finished atop the AFL ladder after their best ever home and away season and would appear as the hot favourites to take care of Sydney, who are without five of their best players because of club-imposed suspensions in the wake of the Pullman Hotel incident on the eve of the finals.
But the depleted Swans rallied to produce one of the greatest wins in their history against two-time reigning premiers Brisbane in the qualifying final and should go in as the favourites, according to Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir.
“What they did against Brisbane, clearly it didn’t seem like they missed any of those players,” Longmuir said.
“They played a fantastic, selfless brand of footy. We’ll go over there as underdogs, and they’ll be really confident after their win against Brisbane, and they’ll be heavy favourites on their home deck. We’ll go over there and give it our best.”
