Inconsistency around pushes in the back have put the AFL in an “awful” position and an “overcorrection” is set to be made, Kane Cornes says.
The Port Adelaide Hall of Famer lashed the AFL after round four was marred by dumbfounding push-in-the-back calls and non-calls, before Essendon icon Matthew Lloyd declared “the players get away with murder”.
Perhaps the most staggering non-call of round four saw an umpire opt against penalising Geelong spearhead Tom Hawkins for a push in the back on Brisbane defender Harris Andrews last Friday night.
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Hawkins clearly pushed Andrews in the back as the Cats led the Lions by 10 points late in the match, but a free kick wasn’t awarded and, after marking the ball, the 2020 Coleman medallist snapped a goal.
On the contrary, GWS forward Jesse Hogan conceded a free kick for a minor push in the back on Fremantle defender Hayden Young on Saturday night.
“The issue now is there’ll be an overcorrection. So, at round five we’re probably going to see six or seven paid this week that wouldn’t have been paid in previous times,” Cornes said on Nine’s The Sunday Footy Show.
“For a simple push-in-the-back decision, we’re all confused.”
When Andrews fired up at the umpire over his non-call, the official gave an explanation described as “disgraceful” and “completely absurd” by St Kilda legend Nick Riewoldt on Fox Footy.
“He didn’t push you in the back,” the umpire said.
“You were both running forward and momentum took you forward.
“He’s held his ground.”
Cornes, as had Riewoldt, blasted the reasoning.
“It’s an awful position for the AFL to be in, when after round four we don’t know what a push in the back is… the umpire explained it and he explained it wrong,” Cornes said.
Lloyd says a change of interpretation is at fault.
“The problem is they’re never paying them… it used to be if the hands are in the back it’s a free, just to make it easy for umpires,” Lloyd said.
“They’ve taken that away.
“The players get away with murder.
“It’s rare they’re ever played.”
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