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A push in the back (colloquially "in the back") is a free kick awarded in
Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
against a player who illegally tackles or interferes with a player from behind when contesting possession. The rule is applied in two different circumstances: in
tackling Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking up ...
and marking contests. While it was widely introduced in 1897, the rule is as almost old as the sport with its necessity to ensure the safety of players having been debated since 1860.


Push in the Back: Tackle

A tackler, loosely speaking, is not allowed to push an opposition player in the back during a tackle. By the strictest definition of a push, any contact from behind could be considered a push in the back, so the rule is usually enforced under only the following three circumstances: *If a player is bent over or on his knees, usually to win or protect the football, and an opponent knocks them over from behind. *If a player is lying face down on the ground, and an opponent falls onto his back, intentionally or unintentionally. The first circumstance often directly causes this second circumstance also. *If a tackler pursuing a ball-carrier uses one or both hands to push them from behind, causing them to be knocked off-balance as he attempts to dispose of the ball. A chaser often attempts this when he sees that the ball-carrier is about to kick the ball, and he is not close enough for a tackle. While the second and third circumstances are objectively applied by umpires, there is some subjectivity concerning the first interpretation. This arises because a bent-over player can be easily knocked over by incidental contact, forcing the umpire to make a judgement call regarding whether or not be considers the push to be sufficiently substantial to warrant penalty. Furthermore, it is not uncommon to see a player "take a dive" when he feels contact from behind, and umpires will not pay a free kick if they believe this to be the case. Nevertheless, it is relatively easy for fans to predict when these free kicks are going to be paid. Umpires are much less lenient if a player pushes another near the boundary line, due to the increased danger of crashing into the fence.


Push in the Back: Marking contest

One of the rules introduced by the
VFL The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...
when they split from the VFA 1897 was the protection of a player who jumped for a mark from being put off balance by a player pushing them from behind. Pushes in the back are usually paid under the following three circumstances. *If a player pushes an opponent who has jumped to take a mark. *If a player on the lead is put off-balance by contact from behind with the arms of an opponent. *If a player in a pack or standing one-on-one marking contest is pushed out from behind, with the use of the hands. Free kicks under the first circumstance are easy to spot and are always paid, because a player already in the air cannot take a dive when pushed. However, under the other two circumstances, making judgement calls can be very difficult: it is easy for a player to take a dive in these circumstances; a sprinting player who is pushed may, in the act of trying to fall safely, take an unnatural leap which inadvertently makes the play look like a deliberate dive. As such, paying free kicks for pushes in the back in marking contests has always been contentious. However, these pushes are all caused by the arms. Players in marking contests are allowed to push their opponents out of the contest with their bodies, within reason; so, a subtle nudge with the shoulder would not be penalised, but a full-blooded bump in the back would be penalised.


"Hands in the Back"

In 2007, the AFL introduced an interpretation of the push in the back in marking contests, referred to as hands in the back. Under the rule, any player who placed his hands upon an opponent's back in a marking contest, whether there was a visible push or not, would be penalised. The rule was introduced after a 2006 season, in which there was an increasing tendency for forwards to play from behind in standing one-on-one marking contests, using their hands or bodies to nudge their opponents under the ball. It has become very difficult to adjudicate whether or not these nudges should be penalised, and there was a high degree of inconsistency. The AFL introduced the hands in the back rule to remove the subjectivity of these calls: in other words, a push with the body/forearms/closed hand was fine, but a push with open hands was not, regardless of the strength of the push. The rule has encountered a wide range of problems, with two particularly notable ones. *Players were being penalised because they were unable to use their hands to protect their positions, or even feel the position of their opponent while their eyes were on the ball. *Umpires were frequently caught in the wrong position to see hands in the back calls, so the application of the rule ended up just as inconsistent as the previous season. There were repeated calls for the rule to be repealed, even midseason, and there has been much criticism of the AFL for introducing the rule into the regular season without trialling it first in the NAB Cup. The AFL has stated that the rule would remain beyond 2007, and fans' angst decreased as the season progressed, and as players became used to working within the interpretation. Through the Laws of the Game committee, the rule was scrapped for the 2019 season. The decision to remove the rule has since been criticised as more and more obvious pushes were not being penalised. This was highlighted in a match against Brisbane in Round 4 of the
2022 AFL season The 2022 AFL season is the 126th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season features ...
when defender
Harris Andrews Harris Michael Johnston Andrews (born 11 December 1996) is an Australian rules footballer and the co-captain of the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early life Andrews was born in Fitzroy, Melbourne in 1996. He moved to B ...
, while standing his ground, was blatantly pushed by Tom Hawkins resulting in a mark and goal. The decision drew substantial criticism and Hawkins himself admitted that he should have been penalised. Gerard Healy labelled the removal of the rule "a blight on the game".


Signal

The umpire signals a push in the back by holding both hands open, palms facing outwards, in front of his chest, then making a pushing motion outwards with them. However, his action often reflects the push which is being penalised so a push in a marking contest will see the umpire push his hands outwards, while driving a player into the ground will see the arms pushed further downwards.


History

The idea of a Push in the Back rule has its origins in the 1860s just one year after the first Melbourne Football Club rules (
Laws of Australian rules football The laws of Australian rules football were first created by the Melbourne Football Club in 1859 and have been refined over the years as the sport evolved into its modern form. The laws significantly predate the advent of a governing body for t ...
) were published. Proponents of rugby football, in particular, felt that the practice of pushing a player from behind was unsportsmanlike and especially dangerous. With the Australian rules lacking an offside and defensive and offensive lines, rugby players in general play did not need as much positional awareness of players behind them. Among the earlier advocates of the rule change was the
South Yarra Football Club The South Yarra Football Netball Club is an Australian rules football and netball club located in the southern suburbs of Melbourne. The club participates in the Southern Football League, based in the south and south eastern suburbs of Melbourn ...
possibly the first club to have such a rule, however its introduction was deemed unnecessary and was voted down at the first committee meeting. One of the commonly cited reasons for its rejection is the difficulty in officiating was seen to outweigh the benefit. The
Ballarat Football Club The Ballarat Football Netball Club is an Australian rules football and netball club. The football squad currently competes in the Ballarat Football League in the Ballarat region of Victoria, Australia. The Ballarat Football Netball Club was es ...
enforced such a rule in 1872. The club staunchly defended its rule despite calls to fall in line with the Melbourne Football Club's rules. In 1874 in matches against the Melbourne Football Club it succeeded in having the visiting club agree to a no pushing from behind rule. The rule was then debated by clubs at a 1874 conference but was again voted down. In practice, however its use as a tactic was increasing and umpired began to penalise it with free kicks despite the absence of a rule. By 1876, South Australian leagues, also playing under their own rules, began to outlaw the practice in marking contests. However Victorian clubs still allowed the practice and players accepted it as part of the game and when South Australia agreed in 1877 to adopt the Victorian rules to participate in representative matches against Victoria they included the ability to push players from behind. In 1877, Sydney rugby club Waratah, playing an intercolonial against the
Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition. Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Me ...
pointed out the unfairness of the practice and the advantage it gave to their Victorian opponents as something that rugby fans in the colony would not stomach. During the 1870s the lack of the rule was a major incumbrance for the game in Queensland and New South Wales, both early adopters of the code. In these colonies rugby was increasing in popularity and its proponents of argued that without the Push in the Back rule, their game was much safer to play than the Victorian code. In the early days many serious injuries resulted from players being pushed while contesting the ball, and its practice in marking contests discouraged players from attempting high marks. In Queensland, local clubs including the Brisbane Football Club had for years unsuccessfully lobbied the Victorian Football Association (VFA), whose rules it had affiliated with, to ban pushes from behind in an effort to improve its safety and fairness in comparison to rugby.The Brisbane Courier Mon 17 Jul 1882 Page 3 FOOTBALL NOTES. In 1880, the
New South Wales Football Association The New South Wales Football Association was the governing body for Australian rules football in New South Wales between 1880 and 1893. It oversaw an Australian rules competition based in Sydney and governed the Laws of Australian Football in the ...
was formed becoming the first governing body for
Australian rules football in New South Wales Australian rules football in New South Wales dates back to 1866 with organised competition being continuous since the 1880s. Today, in several regions, the sport is moderately popular, including Broken Hill near South Australia, and the Riveri ...
. As part of its first set of rules, it ignored the Victorian rules and sought to ban pushing from behind in any form, a move which was more popular with rugby fans. The NSWFA believed that the Victorian league would follow its lead to "reduce the game's roughness", however it did not. The VFA's reluctance to listen to the Queenslanders eventually helped created a rift which saw the formation of a local governing body for rugby, mass switching of codes by schools, clubs and players and the decline of the sport in the colony. In 1884 the QFA in response finally went against the VFA's advice and passed a push in the back rule, however it was seen by many as too little too late to prevent rugby from gaining traction in the colony. South Australian leagues began agitating for the change to what was considered by far the most dangerous aspect of the game. Deliberate pushing in the back by unspirited clubs was seen as a blight on the game by South Australians. As such, representative matches in South Australia frequently rejected the Victorian rule allowing pushing. Between 1885 and 1887 high marking was becoming popular in Victoria and clubs began requesting more protection for players jumping for the ball. At a meeting of the Australasian Football Council in 1890 a motion was passed banning pushing in the back in a marking contest. After decades of controversy a rule against pushing for both marking and "running with the ball" was finally adopted in 1897 by the
Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...
. The introduction of an incidental contact rule (i.e. jumping on an opponent's back in an effort to mark the ball in the air is not considered a push) in 1904 helped usher in an era of
spectacular mark A spectacular mark (also known as a specky, speckie, speccy, screamer or hanger) is a mark (or catch) in Australian rules football that typically involves a player jumping up on the back of another player. The spectacular mark has become a much ...
ing which further increased the code's appeal.


Famous Push in the Back incidents

In Round 9, 2007, with the scores tied between
Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United King ...
and Richmond and with about three minutes to go, Matthew Richardson nudged
Mal Michael Malcolm Robert Michael (born 24 June 1977) is a Papua New Guinean-born former Australian rules footballer. He is notable for his successful professional career in the Australian Football League. In a career spanning 238 games and three clubs ...
out of a standing one-on-one marking contest, using his right hand on Michael's right shoulder blade. Michael, who was in front but slightly out of position, jumped to take the mark exactly as he was pushed, but missed the ball; Richardson took the mark and played on immediately, kicking the ball between the goal posts from 50m out, but was penalised for a push in the back, plus fifty metres for wasting time. The Tigers lost the game, and widespread debate about the hands in the back interpretation followed in the next week.


References

{{Australian rules football terminology Australian rules football terminology Laws of Australian rules football Banned sports tactics