For the second time in a fortnight, the notorious orange flag has been waved by an emergency umpire after a player jumped the gun off the interchange in the last term of a tight game, with the penalty impacting on the momentum – and arguably the outcome – of the contest. So is the punishment too harsh?
The two coaches on the receiving end of the infringements in the past fortnight certainly think so.
Fremantle coach Mark Harvey, who had Hayden Ballantyne penalised in the narrow loss to Richmond two weeks ago, labelled it “a pretty heavy penalty to pay” while Hawthorn’s Alastair Clarkson added last night, “if it’s an infringement or not, there’s a blade of grass in it.”
The penalty, an automatic free-kick and 50m penalty, hardly fits the crime. It’s too severe.
In Fremantle’s case it offered Richmond a gimme-goal from point-blank range, while for the Hawks it robbed them of Cyril Rioli’s goal which would’ve given them a match-winning 13-point lead with only minutes left to go. The game, of course, then ended a draw!
The obvious counter-argument is simply not to do it, but as both of these recent instances reveal, the crimes weren’t deliberate acts by players trying to cheat but rather minor errors of judgement under the pressure of a tight final term.
While there’s no arguing against the fact these infringements should be punished, the current penalty is far too severe and the AFL needs to review it at the end of the season.
The rule, after all, was introduced in a bit of a rush in mid-2008 after Sydney had fielded 19 players in the final term of a game against North Melbourne which also ended – coincidently – as a draw.
The AFL rarely ever change a rule mid-season so this case was odd, but the problem was the previous ruling required the opposition captain to call for a head count, offering no power to the officials. There’s no doubt the rule needed revising and introducing something mid-season was fine for that reason.
But in hindsight, it seems the AFL overreacted in trying to stamp out the problem. They did, after all, also slap the Swans with a ridiculously hefty $50,000 fine for their 19th man gaffe, which reflected their anger on the issue at the time!
The strictness of the rule change, though, has undoubtedly created awareness in the interchange issue. Fans, coaches, players, commentators, etc, know the rule nowadays.
Nevertheless, I’m of the opinion the strict revising of the rule has served its purpose in making these instances a rare event. Players now know not to do it. And I don’t believe a relaxing of the rule would change that attitude.
In the recent instances, the players haven’t appeared to be trying to bend the rules, but rather have simply made a momentary and minor mistake.
Last night, Hawthorn’s Grant Birchall was at fault. He appeared to be talking with coach Clarkson on the boundary line and got his wires crossed with Brendan Whitecross as he left the ground. As Clarkson said there was a blade of grass in it.
Clarkson also added: “To cop such a severe penalty… [stepping over the interchange line] has no bearing on the outcome. That rule has been introduced to stop blatant 19-men on the field kind of stuff and this is hardly blatant.”
The Hawks coach hit the nail on the head there and the AFL must acknowledge it needs to be changed.
The main problem with the current penalty is it affects the flow of play, rather than where the crime happened, on the boundary line. That’s what makes it so harsh.
So perhaps the AFL could look at a Formula One type rule where the infringing player is punished by being held back off the field for one or two minutes, as to not interrupt play. Maybe the offending team could cop a five minute interchange ban where no players can come on? I’d love to hear suggestions.
Dockers coach Mark Harvey used the old “do you want a final decided like that?” line a fortnight ago, and it’s a fair point.
The current rule of the interchange infringement is harsh and severe, and doesn’t need to affect the field of play. The AFL must review it at the end of the season and come up with a more reasonable penalty.
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