Michael Voss calls for rule change as Carlton player could be sent to AFL tribunal
Lachie Cowan accidentally collided with umpire Andrew Heffernan, and Nick Haynes' kick sailed straight past Cowan into the lap of Lions player Cam Rayner. The Lions player then set up Charlie Cameron for an easy goal, leaving the Blues fuming.
It came less than one week after Essendon player Nate Caddy was involved in a similar collision with umpire Robert O'Gorman. Caddy was later cleared of wrongdoing over the accidental contact, despite the league issuing a recent crackdown and handing out more fines.
Lions player Will Ashcroft could be facing a fine for accidentally tripping an umpire on Thursday night. And Carlton midfielder Adam Cerra might find himself being sent straight to the tribunal.
Cerra also made contact with an umpire in a separate incident which could draw attention from the match review officer. Because Cerra has had three previous fines in the past two years, he might be sent straight to the tribunal if he cops another charge for Thursday night's incident.
Under a controversial new edict issued by the AFL this month, a player charged with careless umpire contact for a fourth time or more during the past two seasons can be referred directly to the tribunal and face possible suspension. It comes after a significant increase in fines for such incidents, with the total amount to exceed a record $1 million over the past 24 months by the end of this season.
Speaking after Thursday night's loss, Carlton coach Voss said: "Not so much specifically Adam, but we've addressed [the crackdown] as a football club. The correspondence has been pretty clear coming out of the AFL, so obviously the first thing we do is make sure we have that covered off.
"It's been something that we've all been really mindful of in the industry. Unfortunately the mids are the ones that are probably going to be copping the brunt of it, so we just have to be cautious there."
In regards to the Cowan incident that led to a Lions goal, Voss said it showed there's an obvious need for a tweak to the rules. "If you're interrupting the passage of play, I would've thought it's common sense to make that a ball-up," he said.
"It didn't cost the game, so we move on. But if there's an adjustment that I'd be suggesting, I'd say that if you're a genuine interference in the play, in the direct line of the ball, then I would've thought the common sense thing to do is to ball that up."
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Brisbane coach Chris Fagan disagreed slightly with Voss and said more ball-ups might create more danger for umpires due to how unpredictable they are. 'The things that the AFL are talking about that we've now put in place, I think they're good,' he said. 'But I'm a fan of not bouncing the ball. I think that would help some of those collisions that happen at centre bounces.
'If the ball-up is predictable, then it makes it so much easier for the umpire to get out, for players to read the ball. As soon as you bounce it, it could go anywhere, players are watching the ball, they're not even looking at the umpire because they're under pretty strict instructions to get that ball out of the centre as often as you can so I think we need to talk about it a little bit more.'
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