Footy boss suggests Worner should cop spray for 50m penalty
Worner was penalised for umpire dissent after waving his arm towards the scoreboard after a marginal high contact call on Lachie Schultz, giving away 50m and allowing the former Docker to kick an easy goal.
The penalty drew widespread criticism from fans and experts, with commentator Nick Riewoldt labelling the call as 'ridiculous.'
However, Swann, who took over as head of football operations on Monday, defended the umpire's call, saying Worner had no one to blame but himself.
'The interesting part about that stuff is if you're going to give away 50m penalties by pointing at the scoreboard, and everybody knows you don't do it, the coach would go nuts,' he said.
'My understanding is that there have been 13 of those paid this year, it's not just that one, and some will argue some have been missed as well.
'But everybody knows you're now allowed to do that, so don't do it.' AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon and Greg Swann. Michael Klein Credit: News Corp Australia
Dockers coach Justin Longmuir called for clarification over how the rule is being applied.
'I'm not allowed to say anything about it, but how often have we seen that paid this year?' he said post-game.
'I see it 10, 20 times every weekend, players pointing (at the scoreboard). I just don't see it paid.
'So, are we going to stamp it out, or are we not? Is it going to be paid, or is it not? I don't make that call.'
Sunday's clash between Collingwood and Fremantle saw several controversial calls, reigniting debate over the standard of umpiring throughout the competition.
But Swann believes the focus should be on clearing up grey areas in the rule book rather than on umpiring standards.
'I think the umpires are doing a great job, it's the rules we need to simplify to make it easier to adjudicate,' he said.
'They're going to make mistakes, but in the main, they do a fantastic job.'
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In a series of uncomfortable interactions, players find themselves telling journalists, coaches and club psychologists what they want to hear, while thinking and feeling something completely different. The authenticity will appeal to footy fans sick of hearing about players 'taking things one week at a time'. "I hate the whole media training thing that happened in footy - I really do," Jack says. "I think it deprived us of so many opportunities to have interesting characters." Jack admits there was nothing interesting about the front he presented during his playing days. "The way we were at the Swans was club-first: you are not to stand out. So I didn't really have a personality externally. "I did a lot of writing but I would never share it. I was always very secretive with my stuff." There were fears of standing out and concerns he'd be seen as uncommitted. "As a football player, your primary purpose is to play football and to win games for your team. 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In a series of uncomfortable interactions, players find themselves telling journalists, coaches and club psychologists what they want to hear, while thinking and feeling something completely different. The authenticity will appeal to footy fans sick of hearing about players 'taking things one week at a time'. "I hate the whole media training thing that happened in footy - I really do," Jack says. "I think it deprived us of so many opportunities to have interesting characters." Jack admits there was nothing interesting about the front he presented during his playing days. "The way we were at the Swans was club-first: you are not to stand out. So I didn't really have a personality externally. "I did a lot of writing but I would never share it. I was always very secretive with my stuff." There were fears of standing out and concerns he'd be seen as uncommitted. "As a football player, your primary purpose is to play football and to win games for your team. 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"One of my least favourite things is when a footy player who didn't have a very successful career comes out and just takes the absolute piss out of himself and that becomes their kind of schtick," Jack says. "I've been there and it's f***ing tough. It hurts you deeply." He suspects some players still face the struggles depicted in Pissants. "At every club, there are five or six guys who are in this spot and I can just so clearly picture them in someone's garage drinking beers while the senior game is on because they just don't want to watch it." Having explored the complexity of his feelings about football across two books, Jack is ready to move on. He is working on a series of short stories that have nothing to do with sport and is excited to see where writing takes him. "It'll be interesting to see when the switch sort of flicks from 'football player turned writer' to just 'writer'. That would be nice," Jack says. "But I'm not going to crucify myself waiting for it to happen. It'll happen eventually."
