AFL News: Head of umpiring responds to dissent rule controversy as Blues star urges players to 'shut our mouths'

AFL Head of Umpiring Dan Richardson has defended the controversial call to penalise GWS for umpire dissent at a crucial point in their loss to Carlton.

Umpire Craig Fleer awarded the Blues a free kick directly in front of goal after Stephen Coniglio questioned a decision to not pay holding the ball against Harry McKay at Giants Stadium on Saturday, with the decision causing widespread debate about the harshness of the dissent rule.

In a statement released on Monday afternoon, Richardson defended both Fleer’s decision and the rule itself, saying umpires with ‘different levels of temperament’ make any consistency with enforcing the rule impossible.

“The dissent was paid based on the player challenging the umpire both verbally and visually, both in his tone and manner,” the statement reads.

“If there was no challenge to the decision, regardless of personal opinion on the threshold, then no free kick could or would have been paid.

“Just like we have some players or coaches who occasionally get emotional, or become overly expressive when under pressure, we also have umpires with differing levels of temperament.

“We have a set of guidelines for the umpires to work between, and we coach them, but we also can’t coach human response.

“Footy is not black and white, it is one of the hardest games to umpire, there is a level of ‘grey’ and within this area is where the debate always sits.”

Richardson urged players to avoid any challenge of umpiring decisions in the future, warning those who do that they run the risk of being penalised.

“If you put yourself in a position for an umpire to have to make a call by verbally or visually challenging a decision, then you need to live with the potential consequence, and in the example on the weekend, the umpire made a call,” he wrote.

“If you don’t challenge the decisions, then there is no need for the debate.

“The approach going forward won’t change.”

Blues defender Sam Docherty has also expressed his support for the umpires amid the controversy, saying players will need to learn to change their ways to cope with the new rules.

Speaking to media at the Royal Children’s Hospital ahead of the Blues’ Good Friday clash against North Melbourne, Docherty said players and supporters would need to learn to accept more ‘grey’ in the game.

“I think there’s an overarching principle for why they brought in the dissent rule… to protect umpires, and I think that itself is what it should be,” Docherty said.

“The hard part with it is it’s open to interpretation between umpires – some things will get paid and some won’t.

“I’m a very much ‘accept the grey in the game’. The chase for the black and white, it’s just not there, and we try to chase it for every rule in the game.

“They [umpires] will make mistakes at times, and as much as we as players do. We’ve made hundreds of errors across the game and umpires make probably pretty few… I think at times we need to cut them a bit of slack.

“As players we’re emotionally invested in it as well, and at times we’ve just got to shut our mouths and move on.”

Jesse Hogan of the Giants appeals to the umpire. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

No panic stations for winless Cats despite 47-year first

The doomsayers have come out in force for Geelong after a third straight loss to start the year against Gold Coast consigned them to the bottom of the ladder – and a 47-year first.

The Cats are the first reigning premier to lose their first three matches since North Melbourne in 1976, and are the only team in the AFL yet to register a win this season.

And after a decade of being prematurely written off, Fox Footy analyst David King believes the curtain is finally closing on the Cats.

“I know we’ve been in a hurry to say this for years and they won a flag last year, but I think we’ve seen the end of an era. I think the Cats are cooked,” King said on Fox Footy’s First Crack.

“I don’t say that lightly, because I’ve been one that’s jumped the gun on this a few years ago and undersold the absolute professionals at the top of the tree.

“The air has come out of the tyres a lot for the Cats – a lot has gone wrong at the start of the year. They’re chasing the game in terms of fitness, they’re chasing the game in terms of health.

“I’ve never seen their midfield look so slow. They just look like they’re being out-hunted at the moment. I know there’d be some concerns in the Geelong coaches’ box.

“They’ll do their best to kick that can down the road, but right now that they’ve never looked in a state of disrepair defensively like they are at the minute.”

The Cats’ woes were laid bare by a damning stat in their loss to the Suns; they mustered a solitary point from stoppages for the match, by far the lowest for the season.

It has been six years since the Cats lost three straight games, but speaking after the match on Sunday, coach Chris Scott remains confident his team can turn it around. and almost 50 years since a premiership side has started so poorly.

“We could spend a whole lot of time thinking about what it means and referring back to last year, which I get why people do, but it would be a mistake for us to do it,” Scott said, while arguing his team’s struggles can be put in part down to the evenness of the league.

“The competition being really close is daunting in a way because every week you think you’ve got to be on just to win,” he said. 

“But if you’re good enough you should be in every game as well.

“I can never tell three or four rounds into any year who the best teams are. It takes time.

“If you fall too far behind it means you’ve got to win more games in less time, but it is also true if you win a lot of games in a row late, good things can happen.”

The Cats next face the 17th-placed Hawthorn on Easter Monday, who secured their first win of the season against North Melbourne on Saturday.

Eagles count the cost of Derby carnage, but skipper dodges bullet

Premiership forward Jamie Cripps has been sent to hospital with a suspected broken ankle as West Coast suffered up to seven injuries on a day of carnage in their 41-point western derby loss to Fremantle. 

The Eagles lost captain Luke Shuey (hamstring), All-Australian defender Jeremy McGovern (hamstring) and former Lion Alex Witherden (concussion) in the second quarter alone during Sunday’s 16.12 (108) to 9.13 (67) loss in front of 56,090 fans.

The pain continued in the third term as forwards Cripps (broken ankle) and Liam Ryan (head/leg) joined the wounded.

Young gun Campbell Chesser (knee) and forward Oscar Allen (knee) were also troubled by injury woes, but theirs were on the minor end and they were able to play on.

Nevertheless, there were times in the second half when West Coast had no fit players on the bench.

The situation was so dire that a hobbling Ryan was patched up and sent back out onto the field in the final quarter to allow West Coast to have at least one functioning rotation. 

Ryan ended up giving away a crucial 50m penalty when he couldn’t stand a mark in time, and he was eventually taken back off and sent down to the changerooms for medical treatment.

Remarkably, West Coast defied the setbacks to close to within two points early in the final quarter, before Fremantle found their mojo to boot the final six goals of the match.

“Within a game, no (I’ve never seen anything like it),” Eagles coach Adam Simpson said of the glut of injuries.

“We’re good at coming up with firsts the last couple of years.

“We’re not crying poor, we’re not complaining. It’s just collision and soft tissue combination. But the resilience piece is really important for us.

“The third quarter was one of the better quarters we played in my time here.

“I said to them at three-quarter time that in juniors you don’t want to come off. Well, that’s happening this quarter.”

The injury carnage has the potential to doom West Coast’s season. 

Shuey punched an advertising banner in frustration after injuring his hamstring in the opening minutes of the second quarter.

The skipper has a history of soft tissue injuries, but the Eagles believe his latest setback is only minor, and may only rule him out for a fortnight.

McGovern’s tear looked even worse, with the star defender pulling up abruptly and grabbing high up on his left hamstring after following Matt Taberner to a marking contest.

Witherden was left seeing stars after running with the flight of the ball and being accidentally flattened by Dockers midfielder Jaeger O’Meara in an airborne collision.

Cripps had to be carried off by two trainers after his ankle twisted awkwardly under the weight of Dockers defender Alex Pearce.

Ryan landed heavily on his back and neck after soaring high in a marking contest and being accidentally flipped in mid-air.

He was carried off the field by two trainers, before bravely returning for a stint in the last quarter with his left knee heavily strapped. 

Simpson coached from the bench in the second half in a bid to keep spirits high. 

“In the end, I turned around to provide a bit of support to the players, but there’s no one on the bench,” Simpson said with a wry smile. 

Dockers midfielder Caleb Serong won the Glendinning-Allan medal with 35 possessions, eight clearances, eight tackles and four score assists.

Prized Fremantle recruit Luke Jackson played his best game since crossing to the Dockers, finishing with two goals, three marks, seven tackles, 17 hitouts and 12 disposals.

Michael Walters booted four goals, Sean Darcy tallied 52 hitouts, five clearances and a goal, and Sam Switkowski (21 disposals, two goals) was a revelation in the midfield.

“The third quarter was disappointing, but it’s definitely a step forward,” Dockers coach Justin Longmuir said.

“It’s a win we needed, and it’s a performance we can build off.”

(AAP)