THE RUNNING bounce numbers are tumbling quicker than the European stock index.

In the first 13 rounds of 2008, with eight games per round, there were 3760 bounces recorded.

So far this season, with nine games per round, there have been 2215 running bounces recorded.

That's a dramatic drop, an indication of the growing pressure on the ball carrier as space is closed down by opponents quicker than a low-rating sitcom.


The Shaw brothers, the Sydney Swans' Rhyce and Collingwood's Heath, are keeping the dying art alive.

The Shaws have sat in the top four on the bounce list every year since 2009.

The brothers even used to have an informal competition between each other as to who might lead the list at season's end.

That's gone quiet for now, but the Shaws have continued bouncing along.

So far in 2012, the Shaws are first and third, their quinella split by Port Adelaide's Danyle Pearce, with the other perennial top-four placegetter, North Melbourne's Brent Harvey, in fourth.



The Swans' Shaw said it is becoming more difficult to run and carry the ball as teams shut down space inside and outside congestion, but he still likes to take off when he can.

"When I'm playing my good footy I'm running and carrying the ball," Shaw said.

The declining numbers are an indication that teams prefer to move the ball by foot and hand. This generally leads to a quicker transition and is less predictable for defenders.

Shaw says players who like a bounce have to pick the right time to run as you can be caught out of position. He said he trusted his teammates to cover for him if that happened.

"I think we do that pretty well at Sydney," Shaw said.

Of course, the paradox in the figures is that players seem to be exploding into space more often than ever, as numbers surrounding the ball often leaves acres of vacant territory between the goals and the closest player to goal on the ground.

The three-bounce goal from Essendon's Stewart Crameri against Fremantle in round 13 was the best recent example of the fast break football that is becoming more and more typical.

That a player could run half the ground without an opponent in between him and the goal as Crameri did was unthinkable not so many years ago.

Now a player finds himself in Crameri's position every week, with the game's similarity to rugby at such times apparent to anyone who attends the football regularly.

Shaw said teams sometimes get caught pressing up too much, and when a player such as Crameri gets goalside without opponents between him and goal, "you are in a bit of strife."

Few, however, are as composed, skilful, or lucky as Crameri when they find themselves with the world opening up ahead of them.

The Swans’ Lewis Jetta is, but even he prefers to kick long and flat at goal when only open space is between he and the goals. Jetta has kicked 31 goals so far this season, but only had a bounce on three occasions before kicking those goals.

Most who find themselves in the position to charge and kick football's equivalent of a basketball lay-up look as though they don't know what they should do next.

Often they kick and hope, run and hope or if they're skilful, kick laterally, and hope.

Shaw said teams don't practise what the ball carrier needs to do in this situation. He admitted he doesn't even practise bouncing. It's just something he has become instinctive at doing.

"I use it [bouncing the ball] as a balance thing," Shaw said.

"A lot of people give me crap about bouncing the ball as soon as I get it but it is more of a balance thing for me. I take that first bounce and it balances me up a little bit."

And also keeps the running bounce alive and well, for the time being at least.