Carlton midfielder Adam Cerra is facing becoming the first player to be suspended for umpire contact, having been sent to the AFL Tribunal following an incident in the Blues’ Thursday night loss to Richmond.
With back to the ball after being pushed by Lions star Lachie Neale, Cerra collided with umpire Rob O’Gorman, who was backing away from a ball-up.
It is Cerra’s fourth instance of umpire contact in the last two years, meeting the AFL’s recently imposed threshold to send a player to the Tribunal as part of a recent crackdown.
“I think that will be looked at,” Channel 7’s Mitch Cleary said of the incident.
“He’s on the precipice … if it’s four inside two years, they can pull the trigger and send him to the Tribunal.
“If this is deemed a careless act … he’ll be off to the Tribunal.”
While he is expected to only cop a heavy fine, the Blues could also be fined as a club up to $5000.
It was one of several controversial umpire contact cases during the match, with Brisbane gifted a goal after Carlton defender Lachie Cowan collided with an umpire while attempting to mark a Nick Haynes kick across goal.
Speaking after the game, Blues coach Michael Voss called for a ‘common sense’ rule change that a ball-up be called for after accidental umpire contact incidents that impact the play.
“If you’re interrupting the passage of play, I would’ve thought it’s common sense to make that a ball-up,” he said.
“It didn’t cost the game, so we move on. But if there’s an adjustment that I’d be suggesting, I’d say that if you’re a genuine interference in the play, in the direct line of the ball, then I would have thought the common sense thing to do is to ball that up.”
Brisbane star Zac Bailey, meanwhile, has been hit with a one-match suspension for a high bump on Blue Nick Haynes.
While Haynes played out the game, the incident was deemed careless conduct with medium impact and high contact to trigger the suspension, which will see him miss the Lions’ crunch clash with the Western Bulldogs next week pending a Tribunal appeal.
King responds to Longmuir whack as Dockers star slams ‘load of s–t’ criticism
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir has hit back at David King, questioning the weight of the analyst’s opinions given the North Melbourne great has never put together a game plan, list or culture.
In the wake of Fremantle’s 11-point loss to Sydney on Sunday, King declared Longmuir must guide the Dockers to finals action this year to show he is “the man” to lead the club forward.
“Is he the guy to take them all the way to a premiership? Sixth year, I have my doubts. I’ve had my doubts for a while,” King said on Fox Footy’s First Crack during his extended critique of Longmuir.
The Dockers had won six games in a row before falling to Sydney.
Although that defeat dropped Fremantle to ninth on the ladder, their 10-6 record means they are just a win and percentage adrift of the top four ahead of Saturday night’s crunch home clash with Hawthorn.
Longmuir is now in his sixth year as Fremantle coach, but their only finals appearance to date came in 2022.
King has taken regular pot shots at Longmuir over the years, especially for elements of his style like the Dockers’ slow ball movement, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me what I’ve done to David King, I’d be a rich man,” Longmuir said on Thursday.
“I’d probably be in the Bahamas, guts up, rather than doing this job.
“But in the end, everyone needs to understand that it’s just David’s opinion.
“I don’t want to be disrespectful towards anyone, but I don’t think David’s put together a game plan, put together a list, put together a culture.
“It’s just an opinion, and that’s what I take it as.”
Justin Longmuir. (Photo by Jono Searle/AFL Photos/via Getty Images )
Longmuir has guided Fremantle to 63 wins, 58 losses and two draws in his tenure.
But their dramatic fall from grace at the tail-end of last year – they lost their last four games to crash from the top four to 10th on the ladder – raised the pressure on Longmuir heading into this season.
When asked how he felt about the severity of criticism levelled at him despite only being a win out of the top four, Longmuir replied: “It seems a little bit over the top, but it seems to be his way with me.”
On Fox Footy‘s coverage of Brisbane’s Thursday night win over Carlton, King responded to Longmuir’s comments, saying the Dockers coach was ‘entitled’ to a right of reply.
That’s the game – we say what we think, they say what they do. I’ve got no problem with that at all,” he said.
Co-host Jason Dunstall agreed, saying Longmuir ‘hit the nail on the head’.
“We are in the opinion business, which is what we do,” he said.
“His opinion doesn’t have to agree with anybody else’s – it doesn’t agree with David’s, yours doesn’t agree with him, and that’s okay.”
King cheekily added: “I hope he wins the flag!”
On Friday, dual All-Australian defender Luke Ryan joined Longmuir in hitting back at King, describing his criticism as a ‘load of s–t’ in an interview with Nine.
“I shouldn’t have said that!” Ryan laughed after the on-air comments.
“We win six in a row, and then you lose one game – next thing you know he’s the worst coach.”
(with AAP)
Beams’ brutal return serve at Cornes amid social media feud
Former Collingwood star Dayne Beams has hit out once again at Kane Cornes, saying the controversial former player turned media pundit was ‘one of the easiest players I played on’.
Beams, who retired in 2019 after 177 games for the Magpies and Brisbane, took umbrage to Cornes’ criticism of Richmond’s Noah Balta’s sizeable contract earlier in the week, sparking an Instagram comments feud.
The 35-year old took the opportunity to hit back even harder in an appearance on the Dutchy and Swoop podcast, hosted by Magpies fan ‘Swoop Luke’ and former Pie Brodie Holland, while further explaining his opposition to Cornes’ antagonistic AFL commentary.
“I’ve got nothing against Kane personally, it’s just sometimes I think he crosses a line,” Beams said.
“There seems to be an undertone to what Kane says, it seems to be quite personal … he just frustrates me at times.
“As someone that’s played and understands how some of these comments can have an influence over your own mental state, and ultimately your performance … for me, an outsider looking in, I think it’s just all about holding this reputation as the villain.
“He obviously makes a living off the back of that, which is totally fine, he’s got a family to feed, but at the same time, everyone else is entitled to their opinions and it’s my opinion that at times he crosses a line, and I’m not afraid to call it out.
“I think a lot of players would share the same thoughts around Kane, but if they were to say something like I did, it would be even bigger news. Because I’m removed from the game now, I have no issue in saying stuff.”
As he did on social media, Beams was also scathing of Cornes’ playing days, saying he ‘ran rings around’ the former Port Adelaide tagger during a match near the end of his career in 2015, during which Beams amassed 32 disposals and earned three Brownlow Medal votes.
“It probably came on the back of my comment about the time he tried to tag me once, and I ran rings around him,” Beams laughed.
“He was actually one of the easiest players I played on.
“To his defence, he was probably at the end of his career.”
