Am I the only one who think Boekhorst was just trying to avoid the tackle / protect himself and use his hand to fend off at the same time. Thats what it looks like to me
Apparently you are not the only one but, fortunately, Bolton doesn't agree with you:
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-04-06/coach-puts-blues-on-notice-for-staging-for-free-kicks
Whilst his response
"Asked whether he felt Boekhorst had staged for a free kick, Bolton said: "Make your own assessment on that." might suggest he did not express an opinion, he did.
The only conclusion from this:
"
It hasn't been a trend in our game. It's not going to be a trend because we don't want to be a team that goes into that area," Bolton said on Wednesday.
"We've had a reminder, but it's not a trend. It's the first time I've noticed it and it's only been brought to my attention in the media.
"It's been spoken about, a brief comment. I wouldn't think you'll see it from Carlton players."
is unambiguous.
Staging for free kicks is cheating. The job of umpires is hard enough without having to second guess player responses. IMO there should be a rule that penalises any player who has staged for a free kick and tricked the umpire into awarding the free. A first up penalty should be a hefty fine. A second time penalty should be a 1 match suspension. A third time penalty should be a 3 match suspension. A fourth time penalty should be a 6 match suspension, a fifth time penalty should be a 12 match suspension, a sixth time penalty should be a season, a seventh time should be life.
A player who is awarded a free kick as a result of staging should be permitted (as a way of avoiding penalty) to advise the umpire immediately that a mistake has been made in which case the umpire shall reverse the free kick.
Under these rules I would have cited Murphy when he "dived" on the forward line and was given a free kick for in the back against, I think, Menadue. In this instance, maybe Menadue fell into Murphy's back but if he did so it was after Murphy dived and I have no doubt as to why Murphy dived. So, even though a subsequent free kick was arguably deserved, Murphy staged for the free and his staging contributed to him getting the free making him, at least arguably, guilty.