LUKE Hodge has said ruckmen should have their eyes on the ball when going up for a contest.<\/p>\n
Speaking on SEN\u2019s Whateley<\/em>, AFL umpire Ray Chamberlain broke down when an umpire would pay a free kick for blocking in the ruck.<\/p>\n \u201cMarking and rucking have the same overarching philosophy, which is that a player whose prime objective is to contest the football will be allowed to do so,\u201d Chamberlain said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf just one ruckman puts out an arm, then it’s a block and free kick. When they both do it, nothing to see here.\u201d<\/p>\n However, four-time premiership player Hodge did not think this addressed the issue of ruckmen focusing on their opponent over the ball.<\/p>\n Hodge questioned Chamberlain on his comparison of rucking to a marking contest.<\/p>\n \u201cThe thing that caught my ear before was when he said it\u2019s the same as a marking contest,\u201d the former Hawks skipper said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a marking contest you can\u2019t just have eyes for the ball and run straight at the opponent and knee them in the back or in the body. If they\u2019re hurt, you\u2019re going to have to pay the consequences.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re going to take the ruck contest, you\u2019ve got to at least watch the ball.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019ve got a ruckman who\u2019s standing there with his eyes on the ball ready to tap it, and the opposition is just running straight at him with his knee up, and that poor ruckman who\u2019s is solely going for the ball cops an injury and is out for three months, there\u2019s got to be a few things we need to look at to say, \u2018How\u2019s that allowed?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cIn any other part of the game, you can\u2019t just run at someone and put your knee into them if you\u2019re not watching the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n Carlton ruckman Marc Pittonet is set to miss up to three months with a PCL injury in his knee, after a ruck collision with Fremantle\u2019s Sean Darcy, whose eyes were on his opponent, rather than the ball.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n