By Peter Ryan
The controversial manner in which umpires are interpreting holding the ball has come under fire from Cats coach Chris Scott after Geelong fell six points short of defeating Port Adelaide on Friday night with the decision to not pay advantage to the Cats in the dying minutes frustrating him.
Scott questioned the amount of time umpires are giving players to get rid of the ball when they are tackled.
Jhye Clark of the Cats tackles Zak Butters of the Power.Credit: Getty Images
He said allowing players to be spun around after they have been given prior opportunity has become both confusing and potentially dangerous for players who are acutely aware they can no longer dump a player in a tackle for fear of causing injury.
“Players are really clear that they’ve got to be careful taking a player to ground in a tackle and at the moment you can be spun 360 [degrees] and still get time to get rid of the ball after having prior opportunity,” Scott said.
He referenced an example in round seven when defender Jake Kolodjashnij did not bring Carlton’s Matt Cottrell to ground in a tackle and the Blues utility was able to kick a goal. Players are also in danger of being suspended if a player is hurt in a tackle or giving away a dangerous tackle free kick if they execute the tackle poorly.
There were also several instances during Friday night’s match when the player with the ball was given maximum time to dispose of the ball despite an opponent having them in their grip.
Scott said the rules are not the issue nor whether it favoured one team or another on the night but the way the game was being umpired.
“It’s either [a case] of a whistle and a ball up straight away, or it’s holding the ball,” Scott said.
The dual premiership coach said he thought players should be given time to release the ball if they had no prior opportunity and he suspected the umpires were reluctant to blow the whistle because there seemed to be an aversion to stoppages.
“From a coaching perspective the hardest part, more than the frustration as to why isn’t that holding the ball is to say to players ‘don’t dump them’ but when they can turn and turn and turn …there were a couple of 360s out there tonight where it is a whistle either way,” Scott said.
Jeremy Cameron was denied a goal in the dying minutes when the umpire refused to pay advantageCredit: Getty
While adamant that the umpires had a tough job, he also claimed the goal to Jeremy Cameron in the final two minutes of the game because the umpire decided to bring the ball back to have Ollie Henry take a free kick rather than pay advantage.
It would have brought the margin back to one behind in Port Adelaide’s favour.
“It was a goal and that’s the point I was trying to make,” Scott said.
“Every other sport in the world that has an advantage rule that I can think of doesn’t blow the whistle when there is a free kick because they want to see whether the advantage is there or not.”
Meanwhile, Scott confirmed Tom Hawkins would not play against the Gold Coast in Darwin on Thursday night after the key forward managed one goal in his record equalling match.
The Cats’ coach bemoaned the poor start saying Port Adelaide’s on-ballers Jason Horne-Francis and Zak Butters took control of the match.
“They are an emotional team and when the emotion is running for them they are very good, so there is that side of it and we will look at it and obviously have a think about how we could adjust when the game is going like that,” Scott said.
He rationalised the decision to sub Rhys Stanley out of the game for tactical reasons before half-time as an aggressive move that was necessary because the game looked gone at that stage.
It nearly worked with Oisin Mullin, who replaced Hawkins, quelling Horne-Francis’s influence in the second half after replacing Stanley.
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley said beating Geelong at the venue for the first time since 2007 was a huge result.
“We have been a pretty good team through the first part of this year. We have put ourselves in a reasonable spot,” Hinkley said.
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.