AFL rejects call for a senior umpire to hold court in AFLW matches

The AFL has rejected the suggestion of a senior umpire to hold court in AFL Women’s matches while also refuting that it hit Carlton and Collingwood with an 11th-hour rule ‘tweak’ on Saturday night

The AFL won’t be changing its AFLW umpire system. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

The AFL has rejected the suggestion of a senior umpire to hold court in AFL Women’s matches.

And it has also refuted that it hit Carlton and Collingwood with an 11th-hour rule “tweak” on Saturday night.

Blues coach Daniel Harford on Saturday put forward what he considered to be “a perfect scenario … to have a senior umpire out there helping the two others on their way through” after a number of glaring moments of conjecture.

BIG SWING: CROWS FLY UP LADDER AFTER WIN

MATCH REPORT: VESCIO GOAL BREAKS MAGPIE HEARTS

One club official on Monday labelled the standard as “unacceptable”.

But the league said it was not considering any such proposal and maintained that it was “pleased” with the standard of officiating over the competition’s first five rounds.

“In 2019 the AFL established a stand-alone umpire panel for AFLW matches for the first time,” it said in a statement to the Herald Sun.

The AFL won’t be changing its AFLW umpire system. Picture: Getty Images

“This panel includes umpires that officiate state league matches and umpires that will be considered for AFL matches this season.

“The AFL is pleased with the performance of our AFLW umpires and there is no consideration to introduce senior AFL umpires to the AFL Women’s competition.”

Harford had also said post-match that umpires had alerted his team just 30 minutes before their clash with Collingwood that a two-metre buffer zone would be enforced against an offending player in the advancement of a 50m penalty.

Collingwood coach Wayne Siekman had said that “no one said anything to us” about any interpretation tweak, with both clubs contacted by the league on Sunday.

The AFL was adamant that there was no such rule change communicated and that all observations and rule clarifications were communicated as part of a fortnightly memo to clubs — the most recent of which distributed last Wednesday.