The AFL has acknowledged that the umpires have not paid enough free kicks for pushes in the back over the past couple of rounds.
As Fremantle coach Ross Lyon said ‘‘the saddle is back’’ – a reference to a lenient treatment of the push against players at ground level – the AFL said the missed frees for pushing had been highlighted this week in the umpiring department.
AFL umpiring boss Wayne Campbell said the umpires had missed about one push per game last week and while this was not drastic, the oversight had been shown to the umpires on Monday.
‘‘So the push in the back, last week we missed about eight or nine for the round – that’s one per game,’’ said Campbell. ‘‘So that’s an area that’s been highlighted. Again, we don’t want an overreaction, but there’s an acknowledgement that we’ve missed some.
‘‘I don’t think it’s ridiculously out of kilter ... I think there was like only three per game paid last year and now it’s sort of one and a half or two.
‘‘You’re talking about one per game, it’s not a ridiculous amount, but we acknowledge there’s been some missed.’’
Campbell addressed Lyon’s specific criticism of how the push had been umpired, saying: ‘‘Ross brought up the push in the back – well, we did put that in a coaching session on Monday, so we were aware that we’ve missed some pushes in the back, and that’s probably been across a couple of weeks, so that’s been something that’s been raised.’’
But Campbell said that while the missing push frees had been highlighted, the umpiring department did not wish to see an overreaction. ‘‘People have talked about a rule of the week. We don’t want to be that way. But along the way there will be things, because of the nature of the game, there’s a lot of things to take into account,’’ he said.
‘‘So we’re not making a big deal of it ... We don’t want it to be a Friday night and you’re watching and there’s 18 of them.’’
The incident last Sunday in which Chris Judd injured his hamstring was an instance of a clear push for which no free was paid.
Campbell said the number of free kicks paid per round had been consistent.
‘‘The consistency of the [umpire] coaching has been very good and the free-kick counts, although the numbers don’t absolutely matter, have gone 34, 31, 34, 34 and 34. So you can argue that we’ve missed some in an area or whatever, but the consistency has been quite strong,’’ he said.
Campbell said the number of frees was down about three per game. He estimated that the loss of one (average) free per game was due to the new marking interpretation, and another one per game (minus) was caused by the new below-the-knees rule, which saw a free paid only for ‘‘forceful contact’’ below the knees.
‘‘There’s a perception it’s been tipped upside down. We haven’t aimed to do that by any stretch. We’re trying to consistently apply the rules of the game to the game.’’
Campbell said the umpires were mindful, too, of kicks that were shorter than 15 metres and should not be paid a mark.
‘‘There’s lots of kicks and sides are certainly looking to take uncontested marks and short possession. So it’s something that’s been looked at, but it’s certainly again, it’s not a major focus,’’ he said.
