Bounce Rule Is Ridiculous, Say Experts
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday April 21, 2008
FALL-OUT from the wayward centre bounce at a crucial stage of the North Melbourne-Collingwood clash continued yesterday with Richmond coach Terry Wallace and former AFL umpire Derek Humphrey-Smith saying the ball should have been recalled and thrown up.
Following a Shannon Grant goal, field umpire Damien Sully's bounce was angled well towards the Kangaroos' scoring end and after captain Adam Simpson kicked it inside the 50-metre area, rookie Ed Lower snapped a goal, putting North Melbourne in front by eight points. Wallace said he was in favour of the bounce being retained to start each quarter, but then the ball should be thrown up. "In the situation of last night, there should at least be a call-back," he told Triple M, saying if there was such a call-back, the ball should be thrown up the second time. "You shouldn't have circumstances and situations that are that ridiculous in a game of footy. Throw it up and let us play it in an even playing field." Humphery-Smith, who was dropped to VFL umpiring in 2003 after a bad bounce, said when he saw Saturday night's incident, he had a feeling in his gut "that most umpires have had at some stage in their careers". "I think I'd certainly like to see in that situation that the umpires have the ability to blow time on [and] bring it back - and in that situation throw it up immediately," he said. "You don't want pressure back on the umpire in that situation to re-bounce it, and bounce it straight, but I think we've got to have that ability and we don't at the moment."Humphery-Smith said there were difficulties with recalling the ball to bounce it again, not the least of which was that it would take 2 1/2 minutes to rearrange the centre square.Collingwood midfielder Tarkyn Lockyer said the ball in question should have been recalled, while Simpson called for the centre bounce to be scrapped entirely and replaced with a throw upwards. Under AFL rules, the ball will only be recalled if it has made contact with the umpire at the time of the bounce. Collingwood's football operations chief Geoff Walsh was resigned to the fact the club would have to accept the decision and "get on with it".
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald
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