Brent Harvey Slams Umpiring Decision From Last Night

"You just can't call that."


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AFL games record holder Brent Harvey has slammed the contentious deliberate out of bounds decision that cost Richmond a late chance at victory on Saturday night.

The decision to pay a deliberate out of bounds free kick against Jayden Short, who appeared to genuinely fumble the ball deep in Richmond's attacking 50 with 23 seconds left in the game, helped the Bulldogs to hang on for a thrilling five-point win.

After the Etihad Stadium encounter, Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge likened the situation to an episode of Fawlty Towers, while counterpart Damien Hardwick empathised with the umpires.

But Harvey, who joined Triple M's Neroli Meadows on Fox Footy's Game Day, said the call simply wasn't on.

"You just can't call that ... as an umpire that can't be called," he said on Sunday.

"The initial part he's trying to handball but in the second part he actually tries to grab the footy as well and his hand is getting held.

"I'm feeling for the umpires at the minute because their job is too hard. There's so many rules -- the deliberate is getting worse and worse."

"(But) that will not get paid again for the whole season.

"When there are players around you and you fumble the ball, the umpires never pay it. For some reason though (that was paid).

"In a close game that's costly."

The AFL Laws of the Game committee met last week and gave the new interpretation of the rule its seal of approval, but Harvey said it was already time to revisit the confusing issue.

After the meeting, AFL football chief Simon Lethlean moved to clarify the league's stance on the deliberate rule, stating players who showed "insufficient intent" to keep the ball in risked penalty.

- AAP

7 May 2017




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