AFL great Nick Riewoldt has a big issue with what he views as a major “inconsistency” around umpires and the way they officiate the game.
Riewoldt is unhappy with a get-out clause umpires seemingly have at their disposal when making decisions on players who are time-wasting.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Collingwood give away bizarre free kick in epic AFL draw.
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The issued flared during the Fremantle clash with Collingwood on Friday night when Dockers ruck Sean Darcy was gifted a goal from directly in front after umpire Matt Nicholls penalised Collingwood’s Lachie Sullivan for failing to give the ball directly to him when a ball-up had been called.
Chaos followed, the AFL world raged, and Freo came back from the dead to draw the game. Technically, the decision was correct and it falls under time-wasting rules.
But many fans and commentators have called for common sense to prevail in certain situations, given the time wasted in the particular scenario was very minimal.
In the fallout, AFL’s umpire boss Steve McBurney discussed the decision on the AFL website, and was asked about Sullivan’s intention when he gave the ball to Nick Daicos instead of the umpire.
“In the actual question (reporter Sarah Ollie) has used the word ‘intent’. So, (Sarah asked) ‘was time-wasting the player’s intent?’,” Riewoldt explained on LiSTNR’s Footy Talk podcast.
“The answer from the person running the umpiring department (Steve McBurney), (he’s) said, ‘Well, we’re not mind readers. So, we can’t judge intent, all we can do is judge the action’.”
But this explanation has seriously irked Riewoldt.
“So even when they’re trying to explain inconsistencies within decision-making, they’re being inconsistent,” Riewoldt fumed..
“(Because) we have a rule which is called ‘insufficient intent’ in our game where we are asking the umpires to judge intent.
“So, they can’t judge intent when it comes to time-wasting like in that situation (with Sullivan). But guess what, they can judge intent when they are officiating ‘insufficient intent’ which happens all the time within the game.”
A free kick is awarded to a player during a game if the umpire believes an opposition player has not done enough to keep the ball in play or, indeed, deliberately tried to get the ball across the boundary line and out of play.
So often when a defender kicks a wild ball out of defence and that ball eventually crosses the boundary line, the umpire makes the call that the player has deliberately intended to kick the ball out of play and thus pays a free kick.
It can become a particularly contentious call if the player is being tackled at the time and the ball accidentally slews off his boot, or if a teammate is in the general area.
Regardless, the umpire makes the call on the person’s ‘intention’ to keep — or not keep — the ball in play.
“So even when they’re trying to explain inconsistencies, they’re being inconsistent and they’re contradicting themselves and the very rules which they are employed to govern,” Riewoldt said.
“No wonder the game is stuffed, Joey (podcast offsider Leigh Montagna), when you’ve got the people officiating it contradicting themselves and the rules that they are meant to govern.
“So, we can’t judge intent on some rules, but we can when it comes to insufficient intent.
“When I heard that I just thought no wonder we sit here and scratch our heads.”
Riewoldt, a born and bred Tasmanian, has also endorsed former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley as the inaugural coach of the Tasmanian Devils, saying Buckley “would be a fantastic acquisition” for the Devils and he “loves” the idea of Buckley coaching the side. Riewoldt said Buckley had proved his worth as he was an amazing kick away from being a Premiership coach.
Riewoldt, a born and bred Tasmanian and staunch advocate for a Tasmanian team, also backed a push to make Nathan Buckley the inaugural coach of the Tasmanian Devils
Buckley is also a legend of the game and coached Collingwood from 2012 to 2021, narrowly missing out on a premiership when his Pies went down to West Coast by five points.
“I love it. I think that would be a fantastic acquisition,” Riewoldt said.
“I’ve worked with Bucks; I’ve gotten to know him really well. He’s a great person. The evolution of him from player to coach to media commentator, and person more broadly, has been amazing to see.
“He’s an amazing (Dom Sheed) kick away from being a premiership coach.
“I think it’ll be a great acquisition. (He’s a) football person. Big personality. He’s very well balanced.”
