Dustin Martin escapes with a fine for touching umpire after AFL changes rule interpretation

THE AFL admits it has revamped the way it judges umpire contact cases after letting Richmond superstar Dustin Martin off with a penalty, described as a “parking fine”. VOTE NOW

Dustin Martin tells field umpire Jacob Mollison to look at the big screen. Picture: Michael Klein

THE AFL has admitted it has revamped the way it judges umpire contact cases after letting Richmond superstar Dustin Martin off with a contentious fine.

In a major reprieve for Martin and his back-to-back Brownlow Medal hopes, the brilliant Tigers’ midfielder received a $1500 fine for pushing his forearm into the side of umpire Jacob Mollison on Sunday, as the pair discussed an earlier free-kick decision.

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The Martin ruling has caused widespread confusion because Geelong’s Tom Hawkins and Carlton’s Ed Curnow both received one-match bans for intentional umpire contact.

Gold Coast’s Steven May was also sent to the tribunal for making similar umpire contact as Martin.

But Match review officer Michael Christian said the league had downgraded Martin’s verdict to careless umpire contact on the basis of a new interpretation which had been applied since the tribunal let-off May with a fine one month ago.

Since the May decision, Christian said players would only be hit with an intentional umpire contact sanction – and be sent to the tribunal for possible suspension - if their actions were either “demonstrative, aggressive, dismissive, disrespectful or forceful”.

That is why Eagle Willie Rioli escaped with a fine for tapping the backside of an umpire in Round 10.

Technically, Martin’s contact on the umpire Mollison appeared to be intentional in Richmond’s 18-point win over Geelong at the MCG.

But Christian said the umpire contact was downgraded to careless because Martin’s forearm shove did not meet the “spirit” of the law and was not forceful or disrespectful.

The new interpretation which will come down more heavily on aggressive umpire contact is likely to be formally included to the AFL’s rules at the end of the season as part of an all-encompassing review.

AFL sure to put a concrete set of guidelines in place over summer over umpire contact. Chrisso would have used May precedent to fine Dusty rather than suspend him, but we need to know exactly what is intentional umpire contact

— Jon Ralph (@RalphyHeraldSun) June 18, 2018

My maths aren't very good, but if Dusty's on $1.2 million a year that $1500 umpire fine is the equivalent of a $140 fine for someone on the average Aussie salary. Less than a speeding ticket. Not sure it will trouble him that much

— Jon Ralph (@RalphyHeraldSun) June 18, 2018

The changes have not been implemented immediately because of the time it takes to have rules ticked off by the AFL Commission.

“We are trying to find a way through in terms of interpreting the spirit of the guidelines around intentional umpire contact,” Christian said.

“We believe the spirit of those guidelines were more around forceful, aggressive, dismissive, disrespectful contact to umpires.

“That’s rather than what we saw (from Martin) on the weekend, where a player was trying to explain, in an amicable manner, what he meant in respect to a decision.”

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