Caroline Wilson has revealed that AFL umpires feel they are being used as “decoys”, after a handful of officials have been concussed due to player contact during games.
Multiple umpires have been placed under concussion protocols after whiplash injuries were suffered across the first half of the season.
It comes as the league moved to introduce rules to protect umpires bouncing the ball after goals in the middle, before backflipping on said laws just one day out from their round 15 fixture.
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Players, such as Carlton’s Adam Cerra and Adelaide’s Matt Crouch have been fined for contact with umpires, which has been graded as careless and not intentional.
Despite the acts not being punished, the umpires see the accidents as more deliberate and targeted than once believed.
“The view of the umpires is that players are maybe using the umpires as a deliberate tactic,” Wilson said on Nine’s Footy Classified on Monday night.
“Umpires are getting hit and … badly hurt. Some of their coaches at AFL HQ believe that it’s a deliberate tactic by coaches and players to find space at centre bounces.
“More umpires have collided with players at the end of round 15 than (they did) all of last year, including finals.”
Wilson admitted that the league has switcedh into panic mode after the umpires made a formal complaint.
“It’s prompted a pretty chaotic response in house at the AFL,” she said.
Clubs were sent a memo last week warning them free kicks would be paid against players if they made contact with umpires.
The memo also noted a second umpire would be watching centre bounces with intent to note if any players made deliberate contact with officials.
Umpires were told that in round 15, they could pay the free kick if they were contacted.
However, the league backflipped on Thursday night, just a day away from the first clash of the round, sending a completely different message to umpires.
“Umpires are instructed not to pay free kicks for umpire contact, unless they are certain (contact has been made),” the statement to umpires read.
“Last Thursday night, the umpires felt pretty unprotected and pretty shattered,” Wilson added.
“Umpires feel like they are being used as decoys (by players).”
Wilson declared that AFL general manager of football, Laura Kane, had admitted there was a communication breakdown between umpires and the league.
“I think they are gun shy about rule changes and interpretation changes,” she said.
Two more cases of umpire contact occurred during round 15, with Wilson now confirming the rule will be introduced to protect umpires from round 16 onwards.
It means umpires have a right to pay a free kick against players if they knock over or hit them accidentally when the ball is bounced in the middle of the ground.