Extra Man Costs Sydney Swans $$$
In case you have been living under a rock since the weekends round of AFL Football there was another drawn game on the weekend between the Sydney Swans and North Melbourne. The talk since the game is the revelation that the Sydney Swans were playing with 19 men on the ground during the closing stages of the game.
It is believed that first gamer Jesse White accidentally ran on to the ground, well that is what the Sydney Swans are telling The AFL anyway and that it was not Darren Jolly. Now of course they are going to say that because of the fact that Darren Jolly actually was involved in the play when the Swans moved the ball down the ground to score the point that tied the game. The Swans just pulled Darren Jolly off the ground because he was the closest player to the bench at the time.
I was listening to Kevin Bartlett on radio station SEN the other day and he was adamant that the 2 points that Sydney got should be stripped and awarded to North Melbourne. Now I don’t agree with Kevin on most things and this was going way over the top I think. The AFL have made the right call on this one in fining the Swans $50,000, the only issue I have is that $25,000 of it is suspended.
I get the feeling that James Brayshaw is not to happy with the outcome.
“The AFL has to come out and explained to the North Melbourne Football Club why we don’t get four points out of that game after they had 19 blokes on the field.
It was an innocent mistake by a young guy playing his first game that had no influence on the game as Dean Laidley did point out at the start of the week only to change his tone a day or two later. The AFL might have actually got this one right in my opinion.
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The extra man was on the ground for a total of 35 seconds.
Andrew, I’m not sure that the length of time matters a whole heap. If word had got to Adam Simpson in time, the Swans score would have been wiped and it would have been a thrashing. 35 seconds or 35 minutes, the argument has to be about laws of the game.
But having said that: the laws of the game also only come into play when the opposition captain asks for a head count. So the AFL has made the right decision.
Agree with Wounded Tiger - If Simpson had called for a head count then it would be ok for the points to be rewarded. Until they change that rule, the AFL did the right thing (for once)
Regarding the Swans versus Kangaroos fine of $50,000 imposed by the AFL.
At the last Crows versus Port Adelaide Power match (April 6th 2008) the same situation arose. Port Power had an extra man on the field during the last quarter and this was pointed out by the media.
No fine or penalty was imposed by the AFL.
Why????
That is a ridiculous amount of money!! I dare say with the amount of rotations that happen these days all teams would have an extra man on the ground for 35secs and some point with guys running on even 2 seconds before their team mate runs off.
The AFL just dont want to look stupid for having an obsolete rule so they have shifted all the blame to the Swans.
Show me in the rule book where it says a club will be fined $50,000 if they have an extra player for 35 seconds
The AFL need to pull their heads in and take the blame
[...] Well, the League didn’t really know what to do. So they looked busy for a few days and then slapped the Swans with a fine…one half was suspended but Adrian Anderson used the other half to throw a sweet toga [...]