AFL Rd 3 2023 Post Game Prognostications Giants vs Carlton

[Baggers]

It's a terrible decision. Imagine if we lose a GF because Cripps questions an unpaid free. The AFL needs to find another way of dealing with this. It's not an infringement where players are deliberately doing illegal things to alter the state of play in their favour. There's no cheating,  jumper holding, deliberate OOB etc. You can't have this tiggy touchwood nonsense affecting a result. Hand out heavy fines, suspend the player for the following match etc. But don't change the outcome because some player says boo.

I strongly suspect, Pauly, that it's not so much the questioning it's the manner of the questioning. Pretty confident that had Coniglio (or any player really) asked the ump 'why' quietly and calmy (respect) rather than remonstrate, he'd have been fine. Remonstrating comes across as a public challenge to the umps decision which implies all manner of disrespect. Whitfield asked the question with respect. Coniglio did not.

All players know the risks of moaning, whining and remonstrating to the umps about their decisions. Them thar the rules, like it or not. Leadership would require from Coniglio that he understand and respect this rule of the game, indeed, all players should and most do. I'm pretty sure after this episode that players will really 'get' buttoning it when disagreeing with an umps adjudication.

And you have to ask yourself what useful purpose does it serve to give the ump a belligerent questioning. None. The message/rule is clear... respect the ump and his/her decision, regardless of your opinion of the adjudication or non-adjudication.