Epic Damien Hardwick rant: ‘Collingwood would tear the place down’

Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick has lashed out at the hypocrisy of the AFL world as star midfielder Matt Rowell finds himself at the centre of a firestorm surrounding contact with the umpire.

Suns Head Coach Damien Hardwick. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick has lashed out at the hypocrisy of the AFL world as star midfielder Matt Rowell finds himself at the centre of a firestorm surrounding contact with the umpire.

In an overnight edict the 2019 No. 1 overall draft pick now faces the prospect of a suspension should he make accidental contact with an umpire again, following three charges of umpire contact this year.

Triple-premiership coach Hardwick dragged Collingwood star Nick Daicos into the debate on Thursday, declaring the mighty Magpies would not stand for the same judicial axe hanging over their ace midfielder.

“Some of those ones against Rowelly, what he’s getting fined for is quite laughable to be perfectly honest,” a fired-up Hardwick declared.

“I know we’re the Gold Coast Suns, but if this was being spoken about with Nick Daicos, Collingwood would tear the place down.

“If it leads to a suspension, look out.

“I look at it and go, listen, we understand, but the fact of the matter is (what) we’re dealing with … is probably not a big part of the game as far as I’m concerned.”

Speaking on Fox Footy’s AFL 360 this week, former AFL umpire Ray Chamberlain said the majority of umpire contacts occur at centre-bounce.

He said umpires needed a five degree window in the centre circle to retreat after bouncing the ball.

“They need five degrees and they’ll give the other 355 degrees to the players,” he said.

“And what they don’t want to see in the game is players setting up behind the umpire, because that increases the risk of contact, and using the umpire as an opportunity to create separation at stoppage.

“So the umpires, all they really are mainly worried about is this stuff at stoppage and particularly centre bounce.”

Hardwick urged officials at AFL HQ to consider removing the centre-bounce entirely to protect players and umpires alike from collisions in the pursuit of a bouncing ball.

Eliminating that unpredictability could hold the key to reducing umpire contact.

“I heard Ray Chamberlain talking about it and his response was very good,” Hardwick said.

“What can you tell me about the centre bounce of the ball though? It goes anywhere.

“So it’s really, really hard for the players to sit there while maintaining the consistency of protecting the umpire, but also if the ball bounces sideways, they’re going to move (into the five-degree window).

“My question is, have the AFL spoken to the AFL Commission (saying) ‘for the remainder of the year, let’s take away the centre bounce and throw it up and let’s see if there’s any significant change in the data’.

“Because at the moment, the vast majority would happen at centre bounce.”

Hardwick emphasised that the Suns did not dismiss the need to protect umpire health and safety.

What the club would not tolerate is the loss of a key player to the lottery of a wild centre-bounce.

“We’ve spoken to him (Rowell), he’ll continue to do what he does, but you know that five degrees, when the ball bounces a certain way, all of a sudden it changes,” Hardwick said.

“We understand the health and safety of the umpires is important but I think we can look at maybe speaking to the commission about ‘let’s get rid of the bounce and throw it up’.”

Originally published as Epic Damien Hardwick rant: ‘Collingwood would tear the place down’