Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick was filthy, and the AFL world was on his side, when a 50-metre penalty was paid against his team during the clash with Hawthorn in Tasmania.
With just nine points separating the teams in the third term, veteran defender Tom Barrass was gifted a goal (his first as a Hawk) when there was confusion about who was standing the mark for Gold Coast.
In his first game for the Suns, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan thought he was on the mark, as ruckman Jarrod Witts left the area.
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The umpire could be heard in the background saying stand and move out, but he didn’t mention a name.
Ugle-Hagan continued to stand as Witts headed to Hawthorn’s forward line, and the 50m penalty followed, but the umpire wanted Ugle-Hagan to move.
Hardwick blew up while, commentator Gerard Healy said, “It’s got to be the most hated rule in the history of the game, the stand rule … and this is the reason why.”
Fans and experts agreed.
Channel 7’s Kane Cornes recycled a tweet from 2021 when the AFL’s former footy boss, Steve Hocking, departed the league.
“Congratulations to Steve – now can we scrap the ‘stand’ rule?” the Cornes tweet read.
Responding to today’s outcry, Cornes said: “This was our chance. Instead they doubled down. #stand.”
Fans were irate.
“I hate the stand rule with a passion. Makes the sport look so cheap,” one fan blasted
And another: “It’s the stupidest rule introduced, makes the game look like such a joke. The amount of times you see two people standing on the mark not knowing if they can run off or not … only to give a pointless 50.”
Fans also took aim at the umpire, too, for not articulating clearly which player he was speaking to.
“Umpires be yelling player names unnecessarily ALL game and the only ever time they actually NEED to say a player’s name (when there’s multiple players on the mark) – they never do. Make it make sense,” one fan blasted.
And another: “Can we please get umpires that know how to accurately communicate information? How many times does this happen with an umpire not adequately explaining then punishing a player for not understanding?”
More to come …
