Yard Stealing

In an era where we are seeing ever more pedantic interpretation of the rules - The tackle- The handpass- The off the ground -
It baffles me why referees and linesman are chosing to ignore yard stealing from out of hand frees as usually when this is done it is the dfference between a score and no score.

Im talking about frees on the wing from the 21 yard line where the freetaker shuffles in 3/4 yards then starts a run up that steals a further 5/6 years making a huge difference in the angle of the free.

For me the worst culprit for years has been Colin Mortimer but in todays game at the most critical moment in the match Gooch clearly stole 7/8 years off the angle of the match drawing free.

Any views ?

I seem to remember Gerry Kinneavy always being very strict on the position where the free should be taken and as a reslut he was always very sore on Mickey Harte's son Mark who had stealing yards on free kicks down to a fine art. I suppose its like everything else with referee's and it's consistency on these decisions that is required.

Perhaps there could be a trial on scoreable free kicks inside the 50 taken from the hand that could employ a mark system similar to Aussie rules where a defender could stand where the foul has taken place but any scoreable free kicks taken from the ground should just continue as normal. Sheehan's place kicking today was sublime from the ground and personally I'd like to see alot more scoreable free kicks taken from the ground.

i'd agree with you OMAR but my gripe is consistency, the ref in the Cork game was punishing players for stealing inches and then lets Gooch away with yards at the end. Had Hughes been consistent i'd have applauded him, while others may see it as petty calling players back i'd have agreed with him 100% but he wasnt the only Armagh man to have an off day.

OMAR wrote:For me the worst culprit for years has been Colin Mortimer but in todays game at the most critical moment in the match Gooch clearly stole 7/8 years off the angle of the match drawing free.

Any views ?

Dear God !! Not another useless gimp emanating from the Corrib/Glenshrule club...How many of these worthless pups must Mayo endure......

Yep he's the real talent of the family
A decant honest type of chap that wouldn't be in to things like rolling on the ground after trying to decapitate one of the men in black, or
forgeting how to kick a ball more that 12 years once the pressure comes on .

Ten lines just in case


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And what happened the fist pass??? Is someone in HQ (be the name of Cooney) honestly telling me that refs have not been told to ease up on whistling???

ps I do agree with this!

We generally lock the gates of the yard but sure if they want to get in they'll always find a way..

The gates are usually robbed aswell in my experience.

Jonsmith wrote:We generally lock the gates of the yard but sure if they want to get in they'll always find a way..

Things aren't like the old days Jon, i remember when you could leave the gate open and no one would take anything! Times have changed alright, sad really!

As for football, the only way to get round the stealing of yards, which every player is guilty of, is by doing away with the defending player having to retreat 10 yards and instead letting him stay at the point where the foul was committed with the free taker having to retreat. Quite why this has never been done is beyond me! The only time the defending player should retreat is if the free taker is taking the kick from the ground!