Essendon have asked for formal clarity from the AFL over their response to Friday night’s post-siren goalpost incident.
Bombers chief executive Xavier Campbell suggested there was confusion about the mixed messaging coming out of AFL House.
Sydney defender Dane Rampe was fined on Tuesday for climbing the goalpost as Essendon midfielder David Myers unsuccessfully attempted to slot a match-winning goal from beyond the 50m arc.
AFL boss Gillon McLachlan had earlier defended the decision not to award a free kick, which would have resulted in Myers taking his shot from the goal square and all but ensured Essendon snatched victory.
“With the decision Tuesday around the fine, (you say) ‘OK, well, this is confusing’,” Campbell told SEN radio on Thursday.
“To the point where we’ve written to the AFL yesterday seeking absolute formal clarity above and beyond the discussions that we had earlier in the week.
“We feel there needs to be greater clarity on something like this.”
Campbell insisted the Bombers’ weren’t making the request to excuse the five-point loss, their third on the trot.
Football operations boss Steve Hocking is expected to offer a written response sometime on Thursday in potentially the last chapter of a bizarre saga that has dragged on for six days.
The Bombers want to share the response with the football world to ensure league-wide understanding of the rule among players and umpires.
“Ultimately, I think that’s what you want to get to,” Campbell said.
“And I think we need to talk about the role of umpires in our game.
“Where we can take out that subjectivity, and I would think a rule like this one shouldn’t have subjectivity, it should be pretty straightforward, we should do that to make that role easier for them.”
© AAP
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