Richmond forward Shane Edwards faces fine for umpire touch Jon Ralph and Chad Van Estrop
From: Herald Sun
June 18, 2012 RICHMOND forward Shane Edwards faces a fine for making contact with umpire Matt Stevic during the Tigers' narrow win over Greater Western Sydney.
Edwards seemed to initiate contact with Stevic, touching him on his chest in the third quarter while contesting a decision.
While severe or intentional contact with an umpire sees the match review panel refer the incident to the tribunal, there are fines for lower-level contact.
Negligent contact with an umpire draws a fine of $1200, with reckless contact incurring a $2600 fine.
Carlton has up to five players who may need to respond to the AFL's request for an explanation after they used social media to criticise the umpiring in Perth on Thursday night.
Marc Murphy and Jeremy Laidler have apologised for their criticism after David Ellard conceded a free kick for holding the ball.
Teammates Zach Tuohy, Andrew Walker and Jarrad Waite then either continued the criticism, retweeted it or complained about being gagged by the AFL.
The incident came as Hawthorn's Jordan Lewis said his teammates were reluctant to make the ball their first objective at times because of the holding-the-ball interpretation.
Lewis told 3AW the readiness of umpires to penalise players who dive on the ball meant they sometimes sat off contests.
"We know if you dive on it and drag it in you will get done for holding the ball," he said.
"You are in a better position to keep your feet and the other player may dive in and you can get him holding the ball."
St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt yesterday called on umpires to discuss their mistakes at the end of the round publicly.
"Something that might appease the players and supporters a little bit ... is if on a Monday or a Tuesday the umpiring department came out and said: 'This decision was wrong'," he said.
Players have questioned their right to free speech but the AFL have maintained a zero tolerance approach - fining players in recent times for criticising league decisions.
"I understand the argument about free speech, but as a player you just know you can't comment on it," Riewoldt told Channel Seven's Game Day.
"Players make mistakes, umpires make mistakes, but you can't criticise them- so just don't."
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/more-news/richmond-forward-shane-edwards-faces-fine-for-umpire-touch/story-e6frf9jf-1226398051455