Carlton fans whinging about the umpiring in the smh
www.smh.com.au
On Saturday with the game poised, Geelong’s Ollie Henry took a mark on the goal line. There was a video review about whether he had marked inside the field of play, and after it was examined at length, it was decided he had.
What was not debated, but should have been, was the fact that before this there was a hefty shove in Lewis Young’s back. There is a reason it was not debated, and it wasn’t just because the video score review doesn’t (and shouldn’t) extend to reviewing those things. It was not in debate because there seemingly is never a debate about the fact players continue to feel free to shove opponents under the ball at will.
![Carlton captain [PLAYERCARD]Patrick Cripps[/PLAYERCARD] has a word with the umpire on Saturday afternoon.](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7 "Carlton captain [PLAYERCARD]Patrick Cripps[/PLAYERCARD] has a word with the umpire on Saturday afternoon.")
Carlton captain Patrick Cripps has a word with the umpire on Saturday afternoon.
Since the AFL – rightly – removed the hands in the back rule, umpires have taken the view that nearly everything now is permissible. Commentators use silly euphemisms like “worked him under the ball” when a player times the shove of an opponent just as he leaps, and hence goes flying forward. “That’s just good body work.” Well, it is if you accept getting away with a push in the back is good body work.
But the commentators of this play were left aghast at what Henry got away with. Goal-kicking great Jason Dunstall was surprised and bemused, David King perplexed.
“It’s an extraordinary push out,” Dunstall observed on Fox.
The generous view of the Henry moment was he might have pushed Young in the side, even though Young went cannoning forwards.
It was a missed free kick. And yes free kicks are missed by umpires, that’s accepted, and it might just be put down as an error. But the concern is the AFL won’t consider this and incidents like it an error because otherwise it is doubtful they would continue happening so frequently.
The Henry mark was one instance, but it happened again on Sunday when Swan Hayden McLean shoved Hawthorn’s Jack Scrimshaw under the ball. There are examples in every game.
The AFL first introduced the hands in the back rule because a push seemed devilishly hard to police. Then it abandoned that mandatory rule because the lack of leeway in interpretation made the cure worse than the cancer. Now we are back with players being freely pushed out. The AFL needs to push back, not push in the back.
In a game where the Blues were also penalised for a dubious stand 50 that resulted in a late goal, when the umpire told Harry McKay to stand but Patrick Cripps did instead, because McKay was injured and wandered away, the Blues had a right to feel they didn’t get the rub.
Why it’s time the AFL pushed back on this forgotten rule
Push has come to shove for footy’s forgotten rule; a Giants star has become a modern-day great after crossing to Geelong; and Carlton ruckman’s comeback is anything but the pits.
On Saturday with the game poised, Geelong’s Ollie Henry took a mark on the goal line. There was a video review about whether he had marked inside the field of play, and after it was examined at length, it was decided he had.
What was not debated, but should have been, was the fact that before this there was a hefty shove in Lewis Young’s back. There is a reason it was not debated, and it wasn’t just because the video score review doesn’t (and shouldn’t) extend to reviewing those things. It was not in debate because there seemingly is never a debate about the fact players continue to feel free to shove opponents under the ball at will.
Carlton captain Patrick Cripps has a word with the umpire on Saturday afternoon.
Since the AFL – rightly – removed the hands in the back rule, umpires have taken the view that nearly everything now is permissible. Commentators use silly euphemisms like “worked him under the ball” when a player times the shove of an opponent just as he leaps, and hence goes flying forward. “That’s just good body work.” Well, it is if you accept getting away with a push in the back is good body work.
But the commentators of this play were left aghast at what Henry got away with. Goal-kicking great Jason Dunstall was surprised and bemused, David King perplexed.
“It’s an extraordinary push out,” Dunstall observed on Fox.
The generous view of the Henry moment was he might have pushed Young in the side, even though Young went cannoning forwards.
It was a missed free kick. And yes free kicks are missed by umpires, that’s accepted, and it might just be put down as an error. But the concern is the AFL won’t consider this and incidents like it an error because otherwise it is doubtful they would continue happening so frequently.
The Henry mark was one instance, but it happened again on Sunday when Swan Hayden McLean shoved Hawthorn’s Jack Scrimshaw under the ball. There are examples in every game.
The AFL first introduced the hands in the back rule because a push seemed devilishly hard to police. Then it abandoned that mandatory rule because the lack of leeway in interpretation made the cure worse than the cancer. Now we are back with players being freely pushed out. The AFL needs to push back, not push in the back.
In a game where the Blues were also penalised for a dubious stand 50 that resulted in a late goal, when the umpire told Harry McKay to stand but Patrick Cripps did instead, because McKay was injured and wandered away, the Blues had a right to feel they didn’t get the rub.
