AFL chief executive doubles down after putting players ‘on notice' for umpire contact

7NEWS

2 days ago

AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon says the league's crackdown on umpire contact was a necessary lever to pull after putting the playing cohort 'on notice' didn't elicit a response.
In a move made this week, players can now be sent to the tribunal and potentially suspended for accidental umpire contact if they have transgressed four times over a two-year period.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: AFL cracking down on umpire contact.
Track records in the current two-year period have also been retrospectively fitted to any player who has already made contact with an umpire in that time, meaning there are some players who already have three incidents to their name, and others with four.
Speaking to media ahead of Toyota's Good For Footy Round at the State Library on Thursday, Dillon insisted there had been no change in policy, but stood by the crackdown.
'There hasn't been a change in policy,' he said.
'It's part of the tribunal guidelines that there are multiple financial sanctions that we can refer to the tribunal, and that's been in place for a number of years.
'We wrote to the clubs at the start of the year, and also in April, advising that we may do that, just to put the players on notice. And then we hadn't seen a change in behaviour, so then I advised the CEOs at our meeting on Tuesday afternoon, and all of the CEOs completely understood the position we were taking.'
Players who infringe for a fourth time can still escape with a fine at best, but will be suspended at worst, based on discretion.
'I don't want to go into the hypotheticals, and it would only be in the most egregious case,' Dillon said, when asked if he could see anyone being suspended for accidental contact.
'But what we want to do is avoid the contact where it's avoidable; we're not talking about accidents, we're talking about where it's careless.
'We do know that there are some clubs that have only had one (umpire) impact this year and there are others that have had multiple, so we know that it can be done.'
Gold Coast midfield bull Matt Rowell is one of three players who have already reached four incidents of umpire contact in the past two years, the latest of which came last weekend against the GWS Giants last weekend.
Rowell was grappling with Toby Greene at a centre square stoppage and accidentally nudged Greene close enough to the umpire that he tripped on the Giants skipper's heel.
Dillon said he was comfortable with that being cited, and that Rowell has to be more aware in that scenario.
'Matt's been fined for that a number of times — you have to be aware of where the umpire is going, it's really clear,' Dillon said.
'All of the careless contacts have been happening around stoppages and it's really clear where the umpires go.'
Speaking at his mid-week press conference on Thursday, Suns coach Damien Hardwick was seething at the timing of the crackdown.
'If it leads to a suspension, look out, from our point of view,' Hardwick told reporters on Thursday.
'I know we're the Gold Coast Suns. And don't get me wrong, Matt Rowell is a superstar.
'But if this was spoken about with Nick Daicos, Collingwood would tear the place down.
'Let's sit there and understand what we're talking about here.
'We can make changes about umpire adjudication, but we've been calling out for change to the tribunal for a period of time.
'Why can we, with the swipe of a pen, change one and not the other?'
The AFL changed the rules after 63 incidents of players making careless contact with umpires this season. All have resulted in a financial sanction.
Hardwick said most incidents were at centre bounces.
'What can you tell me about the centre bounce of the ball?' he said.
'It goes anywhere, so it's really really hard for the players ... if the ball bounces sideways, they're going to move.
'Have the AFL spoken to the AFL Commission and asked: 'Can we, for the remainder of the year, take away the centre bounce and throw it up and see if there's any significant change in the data?'
'Some of those ones against Rowelly, what he's getting fined for, are quite laughable to be perfectly honest.
'We understand the health and safety of the umpires is important.
'But I think we can look at speaking to the commission about getting rid of the bounce and throwing it up.'
The AFL said in the entirety of last season, there were 56 incidents of players making careless contact with an umpire, following only 20 such cases in 2023.