AFL legend Jimmy Bartel has called on his fellow commentators to “know the rules” amid uproar over a crucial umpiring decision that cruelled Essendon on Saturday.
The Bombers lost to Geelong by 45 points, but were dudded by several decisions during the third quarter when the contest was well and truly on the line.
It was one call in particular that has divided the game.
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Geelong was leading by nine points midway through the third term when the Cats worked the ball towards their goal.
Young Bombers defender Jye Menzie collected the loose ball and took it across the goal line for a rushed behind, as opponents Ollie Dempsey and Brad Close moved in to put pressure on him.
But the umpire blew his whistle and penalised Menzie, gifting the Cats a goal to extend their lead.
While umpires rarely penalise players for doing so, it is illegal to rush a behind when the defender is not under immediate pressure.
The rule states at least one opponent must be within nine metres – the length of the goal square – which both Dempsey and Close were on Saturday.
The defender will also be penalised if they “have had time and space to dispose of the football”, which Bartel believes made the decision to penalise Menzie correct.
“It is incumbent on us as football commentators and media pundits to know the rules,” Bartel told Nine’s Eddie and Jimmy Podcast on Monday.
“I’m just bringing this up because it’s important.
“The number of people who are yelling and screaming, going ‘the umpire got it wrong’ and ‘everyone’s got it wrong’ because of the nine metres… the umpire got it right.
“(The Bombers) are incredibly stiff because we’ve seen this happen a hundred times over the course of the last couple of seasons, and it’s never been paid.
“Everyone goes ‘but it’s in the nine metres’ – that’s not the catch-all to get you out of jail.”
Eddie McGuire has called on the AFL to tweak the rule itself in order to eradicate the grey area that led to Saturday’s controversy.
Players are penalised if they deliberately take the ball out of bounds – a rule McGuire wants to see extended to the goal line.
“What’s the difference in stepping over the goal line, and stepping over the boundary line as we saw in the Lions game on Friday night?” McGuire asked Bartel.
“If you deliberately take the ball outside the (boundary) line it’s a free kick. So if you deliberately take the ball over the (goal) line it’s a free kick… just forget the nine metres.
“Why not just make it easy, and say ‘if you run the ball over the line’… we have different rules for different areas of the ground.
“If you’ve actually got the ball you’ve got to kick the ball back into play and not go over the line.”