Inflation hits 50m penalties as dissent concern remainsPeter Ryan
The Age
June 3, 2022Despite the dissent rule, the protected area prohibition, the stand silliness and the kick-it-over-the-fence, common-sense confusion, the number of 50-metre penalties paid in the first 11 rounds of 2022 remains lower than the number awarded in the first 11 rounds in 2018.
That’s right.
However, the number of 50m penalties paid in the first 11 rounds in 2022 is up 57 per cent compared to the same period last season which is the biggest year-on-year jump for the past 10 seasons.
Last Friday night’s controversial decision by umpires Matt Stevic and John Howarth not to award Dion Prestia a 50m penalty, when Chad Warner roosted the Sherrin to Coogee Beach rather than give it back to his Tigers opponent after he was awarded a free kick in the split-second before the final siren sounded, kept the number of 50m penalties awarded in 2022 so far to 230.
That’s four fewer than were awarded in the first 11 rounds of 2018 when then North Melbourne coach and now head of football at the AFL, Brad Scott, warned the AFL that an overly strict interpretation of the protected area rule would “drive supporters nuts”.
Funnily enough, 2018 was a year when no rule changes were made. However, a spike in the number of 50m penalties paid occurred that season because umpires became stricter on players who passed through the protected area (which was introduced in 1996 but has tightened regularly since) while their opponents looked to kick the ball.
Three-time grand final umpire Mathew James, who finished up with the AFL in 2010 after 206 matches, said it has become a hard game to umpire.
“Has the player moved off the mark, has the player with ball moved, what are you looking for? I find it very complicated. I don’t think it would be enjoyable from an umpiring perspective,” James said. “The reality is they are only adjudicating what they are being instructed to adjudicate.”
This season is just the fourth occasion in the past 10 seasons when more than 200 50m penalties have been paid in the first 11 rounds, with James questioning whether football followers wanted to see so many 50m penalties awarded.
There has been a massive hike compared to last season, too, when just 146 50m penalties were paid in the opening 11 rounds, a 57 per cent increase, the largest year-on-year increase in the past decade.
The highest number of 50m penalties awarded during a single round this season was in round four when umpires blew the whistle to award 31 50m penalties.
That is still below round 18, 2007, when 37 50m penalties were awarded during a single round with one fewer game played in the 16-team competition.
James praised the umpire’s decision to not award Richmond a 50m penalty at the end of the match against Sydney and said common sense needed to be regularly applied when umpires made decisions, particularly as the rules were so grey.
“We over-umpire the game and we keep implementing rules that are grey ... if rules are black and white, the players are much more understanding of it and can play to the rules better,” James said. “The AFL have to be proactive about what the interpretation is.”
Since the 50m penalty replaced the 15m penalty in 1988, the number of ways in which a team can incur a 50m penalty has dramatically increased.
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The number of ways teams can now concede a 50m penalty has increased1. A player or official from the opposing team: (a) has moved off the mark; (b) when in the immediate contest, unreasonably holds a player after that player has marked the football or been awarded a free kick; (c) when not in the immediate contest, holds a player after that player has marked the football or been awarded a free kick; (d) enters or does not make every endeavour to immediately vacate the protected area, except when the player is accompanying or following within two metres of their opponent; (e) has not returned the football directly and on the full to the player awarded the mark or free kick; (f) engages in any conduct which delays or impedes the play; or (g) engages in any other conduct for which a free kick would ordinarily be awarded
2. One team has more than permitted members on playing surface
3. Interchange infringement.
4. Attacking team delays play during opposition kick-in.
5. A six-six-six breach.
6. A player delays or impedes play or acts in an unsportsmanlike manner.
7. A player prevents an opponent from taking part in the next act of play.
8. A player from the opposing team impedes or delays the player with the football whilst the mark is being advanced, a second 50-metre penalty shall be imposed.
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Penalties for dissent has been the biggest issue among fans, even though players and coaches have been supportive of the move to protect umpires in a bid to grow their numbers, with the game experiencing a shortage across the nation.
James suspects the low-tolerance approach will have an opposite effect.
“I think it’s going to have an adverse effect on umpiring at lower levels. I think it will drive kids away because the backlash is greater now and they don’t have the skill set or experience to deal with players and often players don’t have the control they need to show if a free kick is paid,” James said.
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/inflation-hits-50m-penalties-as-dissent-concern-remains-20220601-p5aqdk.html
