Cerra had his back turned to the umpire. He’s now the first player to fall foul of AFL crackdown

Carlton midfielder Adam Cerra will be the test case for the AFL’s crackdown on careless contact with umpires after he became the first player to be referred to the tribunal since the change in guidelines.

And in a blow for the Brisbane Lions out of an eventful Thursday night clash, star forward Zac Bailey has been handed a one-game penalty for a bump that resulted in a head clash with Carlton defender Nick Haynes.

As it is the fourth time Cerra has made careless contact with an umpire in the past two years, the AFL has sent him straight to the tribunal, where he runs the gauntlet of a suspension or a significant increase on the standard $5000 fine for a third offence. The incident happened just before half-time in the Blues’ heavy loss to the Lions.

The tribunal hearing next week looms as a significant one for the AFL, which is seeking to protect umpires from collisions with players who they believe need to show more awareness to whistleblowers, rather than being solely focused on the ball.

The Blues could also be fined $5000 (exempt from the soft cap) under new guidelines that came into effect at the start of the month.

Cerra, while guarding dual Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale, had his back turned to umpire Robert O’Gorman and collided with the whistleblower, who was backing out of the stoppage after the ball-up in accordance with umpire coaching guidelines. Though there appeared to be light contact from Neale, it may not be enough to reduce Cerra’s culpability.

Carlton coach Michael Voss spoke about the league’s crackdown on umpire contact.

“Not so much specifically [the incident involving] Adam, but we’ve addressed that as a football club,” Voss said.

“The correspondence has been pretty clear coming out of the AFL, so obviously the first thing we do is make sure we have that covered off.

“It’s been something that we’ve all been really mindful of in the industry.

“Unfortunately, the mids are the ones that are probably going to be copping the brunt of it, so we just have to be cautious there.”

Carlton defender Lachie Cowan was given the all clear after his contact with umpire Andrew Heffernan, who got in his way while the Blue was attempting to mark a lateral kick from a teammate.

“If you’re interrupting the passage of play, I would’ve thought it’s common sense to make that a ball-up,” Voss said of the Cowan incident.

“It didn’t cost the game, so we move on.

“But if there’s an adjustment that I’d be suggesting, I’d say that if you’re a genuine interference in the play, in the direct line of the ball, then I would’ve thought the commonsense thing to do is to ball that up.”

Essendon coach Brad Scott fumed last week after his star forward Nate Caddy collided with an umpire (coincidentally also O’Gorman) who had accidentally stepped into his path. Scott, a former AFL football boss, said he has repeatedly asked the league to direct umpires not to stand in the corridor as that was where sides sought to move the ball. Like Cowan, Caddy also avoided sanction.

Gold Coast star Matt Rowell said last week that he would not be changing his positioning at stoppage despite the league’s harder line.

The AFL is seeking to change player behaviour and attitudes towards contact with umpires at stoppage. As reported by this masthead last week, there are concerns some clubs are using the umpires as a screen to break a tag on their star midfielders.

It comes after an escalation in collisions between players and umpires in the past two years. There were 63 charges laid for careless contact with an umpire this year before the tougher rules came in place for round 17, up from 56 last year and 20 in 2023.

“We are seeing far too many instances of avoidable umpire contact, and since writing to clubs on this issue in February, and again in April, we have not seen a change in behaviour, and in fact seen an increase in umpire contact,” AFL chief Andrew Dillon said at earlier this month.

“We have an obligation to provide the best working environment for everyone, including the umpires, and there have been too many instances of avoidable umpire contact.”

With AAP

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