Essendon coach Brad Scott has slammed the positioning of AFL umpires, following an on-field collision that winded emerging star Nate Caddy during the Bombers’ 41-point loss to Gold Coast at Marvel Stadium.
Caddy had his eyes on the ball as he ran hard towards a contest in Essendon’s forward 50, colliding with an umpire who stepped out into his path.
The clash came just days after the AFL announced a crackdown on players making contact with umpires, with the league threatening to suspend repeat offenders.
While acknowledging the AFL’s concerns around umpire safety at centre bounces, Scott believes there’s an easy fix to prevent incidents like the Caddy clash.
“I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve approached the AFL about moving the umpires out of the corridor,” Scott said post-match.
“The last response I had from (AFL Head of Officiating)Stephen McBurney was, ‘just pretend they’re invisible.’
“It would make sense if the umpires were in four quadrants on the outside of the contest, looking at the contest. But they insist on running into the corridor, and they’re coached that way.
“Unfortunately, it took the wind out of Nate Caddy. It took 15 minutes to get him going again.
“Whose fault is it? Certainly not Nate Caddy’s – particularly given we’ve put this on the agenda to move the umpires out of the corridor and they just refuse to do it.”
Gold Coast star Matt Rowell may be one umpire clash away from suspension after four incidents in the last two years, and had some near misses in centre bounces against the Bombers.
But Rowell said post-match he had not changed his approach, and coach Damien Hardwick backed the tough Sun’s methods in the middle of the ground.
“I’m not sure he can (change), can he?” Hardwick said.
“He’s got to try to get the ball – that’s what we pay him big dollars for.
“He’s mindful of it, we’re mindful of it, we’ll try and work through it. But at the end of the day, accidents are going to happen from time to time.”
© AAP
