Damning footage emerges after Essendon make complaint over illegal Collingwood act
Channel 7 highlighted a number of instances in which Collingwood players encroached on the 'protected zone' after an Essendon player had taken a mark last Friday. The rule involves umpires telling players on the mark to 'stand' in place and not move, otherwise a 50m penalty can be called.
If defenders move within five metres of the player who took the mark, they're not allowed to then retreat out of the protected zone and get back into a better defending position. It's all designed to speed up the pace of play and promote more attacking footy.
On Tuesday night, Scott revealed that AFL officials admitted to him that a number of calls regarding the rule last weekend were wrong. There seems to have been a relaxation of the rule in recent times after it was first introduced in 2023.
"It just seems there's been a bit of 'creep' on the 'stand' (rule) and the protected area," Scott said. "I understand it's a really hard rule to umpire, but do you have to stand or can you just block the 45 (angle)?"
Panellist Dale Thomas said the examples shown from the Collingwood game should have been pinged by the umpires. Scott added: "They (AFL House) come back and said they're all errors. There will obviously be an adjustment to that, but that doesn't help us now."
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The Bombers coach said he wasn't complaining about Collingwood, but wanted the rule clarified now before it rears its head in the finals. "We sent the vision in and said 'if this is the way it's interpreted, we'll do the same thing'," he said. "So we just want some clarity.
"I'm not interested in going back in retrospect and saying 'you got this wrong'. It's about what's going to affect us going forward.
"I think the 'stand' and protected area are material to the way the game's played. Steve Hocking (former Executive General Manager of Football at the AFL) and others went to enormous lengths to open up the game offensively. Because defence was starting to win for a long time. Offence is starting to win now, but it seems as though it's creeping back a little bit."
The AFL said in 2023: 'An opposition player cannot run toward the mark (and enter the protected area) and then elect to change their mind and retreat outside of the protected 5m area. Similarly, an opposition player cannot elect to leave the protected area and then change their intent and choose to come and stand the mark. Further all other players from the opposing team must be positioned behind the mark or otherwise outside the protected area.'
The game is in absolute crisis with its rules & adjudication through its umpires. Watch for a major correction Thursday/Friday night with the 'smaller' clubs involved
— William Beehag (@Billybag99) April 29, 2025
Collingwood were literally gifted the round 2 game against us by the umpires, why are we surprised here?
— Purp juice (@PurpJuicey) April 29, 2025
I literally said to a friend that Pies will get stung with some frees against over thisThey were also crowding the mark, really quite relaxedNot their fault, they're taking every inch
— Simon (@Knight_Ryders) April 29, 2025
Stand rule and protected zone are two of the biggest blights on the game, designed to open up scoring, scores over 100 are are the exception rather than the norm.
— Leon (@LDav2312) April 29, 2025
https://t.co/lt6JKpQWdAHighlighted this mid game.. Further highlights that the umpiring is at a very low standard currently.
— Heath (@HeathLyons) April 29, 2025
The best one is Elliot clearly in the protected area and the umpire says 'Jamie keep coming' for him to only get closer and the ump doesn't penalise him.
— ZERODARKTHIRTY (@stejr96) April 29, 2025
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