The AFL Umpires Association (AFLUA) is calling for stricter guidelines on umpire contact after Collingwood's Brayden Maynard and Gold Coast's Touk Miller were each fined $5000 for making contact with umpire Nick Brown during a half-time melee. The AFLUA argues that fines are not an effective deterrent, as the number of umpire contact incidents has increased in recent years.
Incident Details
Maynard and Miller made contact with umpire Brown as Maynard charged towards Suns player Ben Long, who had earlier hit Maynard in the ribs, resulting in a two-match ban for Long. Both players were charged with misconduct rather than the standard umpire contact charge, which would have carried a lesser penalty. The AFLUA wants the ability to suspend players for forceful or avoidable contact, stating that current guidelines only allow suspensions if contact is intentional.
Umpire Reactions
Channel 7 reporter Tom Morris said multiple umpires were shocked that Maynard escaped a ban. “The umpires I’ve spoken to, and I’ve spoken to multiple in the last 24 hours, can’t believe that the AFL hasn’t suspended Maynard,” Morris said. He added that umpires feel a lack of support from the AFL.
Caroline Wilson argued that suspensions should have been handed out and that AFL footy boss Greg Swann could have acted. “I think that there should have been suspensions, and I think the way Greg Swann has run the footy operation at the AFL is if he thinks he needs to be pragmatic and go against the guidelines, then he does so,” she said. Wilson also claimed the AFL is “in denial” about how unhappy umpires feel. “I don’t think they rate it as seriously as they should be rating it,” she said, noting that fines have decreased from 63 after 17 rounds last year to 46 this year, but that still indicates too many incidents.
Maynard's Response
Maynard said there was no malice in the incident but admitted he should have been more aware. “When I was running over there, I came from about 50 metres deep, so I probably should have been aware of what was around me,” he said on Ausmerican Aces. “It was careless; I didn’t mean to touch him, he sort of just was there in the middle, I had to get him out of the way. There was no malice in it whatsoever.”
