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"Can't call that" says AFL great Harvey

May 7th, 2017May 7th, 2017

AFL games record holder Brent Harvey has slammed the contentious deliberate out of bounds decision that cost Richmond a late chance at victory on Saturday night.

The decision to pay a deliberate out of bounds free kick against Jayden Short, who appeared to genuinely fumble the ball deep in Richmond's attacking 50 with 23 seconds left in the game, helped the Bulldogs to hang on for a thrilling five-point win.

After the Etihad Stadium encounter, Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge likened the situation to an episode of Fawlty Towers, while counterpart Damien Hardwick empathised with the umpires.

But Harvey said the call simply wasn't on.

"You just can't call that ... as an umpire that can't be called," Harvey said on Fox Footy on Sunday.

"The initial part he's trying to handball but in the second part he actually tries to grab the footy as well and his hand is getting held.

"I'm feeling for the umpires at the minute because their job is too hard. There's so many rules -- the deliberate is getting worse and worse."

"(But) that will not get paid again for the whole season.

"When there are players around you and you fumble the ball, the umpires never pay it. For some reason though (that was paid).

"In a close game that's costly."

The AFL Laws of the Game committee met last week and gave the new interpretation of the rule its seal of approval, but Harvey said it was already time to revisit the confusing issue.

After the meeting, AFL football chief Simon Lethlean moved to clarify the league's stance on the deliberate rule, stating players who showed "insufficient intent" to keep the ball in risked penalty.

"Is that what the crowd were yelling out? 'Insufficient intent! Insufficient intent!'" Beveridge replied with a grin when asked about the umpires' application of the rule.

"Ultimately if you are kicking it out of a pressured situation and there are smothering hands the ball needs to go a certain way for you to clear the area.

"Now, is that insufficient intent?

"I don't know how it went but there were definitely ones that weren't paid that were paid last week.

"The insufficient intent, is it clearer or less clearer? I don't know. I feel like, is this Morecambe and Wise or Fawlty Towers? I'm not sure."

Both coaches expressed concern over several other decisions, including blocking frees paid against Jack Riewoldt and a non-mark call against Tom Boyd.

The loss was the Tigers' second defeat in as many weeks after starting the season with five wins, but a disappointed Hardwick defended the AFL umpiring fraternity.

"I'm not sure whether it's that rule or all the rules to be frank," Hardwick replied when asked about the confusion surround the deliberate rule.

"I actually feel really sorry for the umpires, the amount of interpretations they have to make. We just keep adding layer upon layer, so I don't blame the umps at all.

"Holding the ball rule - how many interpretations are in that? It's not their fault. They have got to go through five decisions to make an actual decision."


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