Gold Coast Suns coach Damien Hardwick was left seeing red after a 50-metre penalty was paid against his team during Saturday’s loss to Hawthorn.
With just nine points separating the teams in the third quarter, Tom Barrass was gifted a crucial goal after confusion about who was standing the mark for Gold Coast resulted in the umpire awarding a 50m penalty.
The umpire could be heard saying stand and move out, but as no name was called, both Jamarra Ugle-Hagan and Jarrod Witts looked at each other in confusion before Witts left the mark and tracked back.
Ugle-Hagan continued to stand before the umpire called him off the mark.
Hardwick erupted in the coach’s box, as commentator Gerard Healy said, “It’s got to be the most hated rule in the history of the game, the stand rule … and this is the reason why.”
You can watch the controversial call in the player above.
Hardwick wasn’t the only one left frustrated, with the AFL world irate.
“This was really tricky,” Dual All-Australian Leigh Montagna said on Fox Footy.
“We could hear it through the umpire’s mic. He said ‘stand, stand’ – and then he was trying to say to Jamarra to ‘move out’ because Jamarra wasn’t where the mark was.
“But he didn’t say his name, he didn’t say ‘Jamarra you have to move out’ – he just said ‘move out’. Witts thought it was him, Jamarra thought he was on the mark and the confusion has resulted in a 50m penalty.
“They thought they were doing the right thing. One person stood on the mark – even though Jamarra was slightly over the mark – he was told to stand, he wasn’t told to come back a metre.
“Damien Hardwick fuming about it – and I can understand why.”
While fellow Fox Footy commentator Dwayne Russell agreed it was a “harsh” call.
And fans were equally seething.
“Poorly interpreted there. JUH was the closest person. No feel for the game right there,” one commented on X.
“I hate the stand rule with a passion,” a second wrote.
The main frustration stemmed from the umpire not calling out the player by name.
“Umpires be yelling player names unnecessarily ALL game and the only ever time they actually NEED to say a player’s name (when there’s multiple players on the mark) – they never do. Make it make sense,” one said.
“If he says Jamarra move that never happens,” another added.
While a third commented, “This cannot possibly be how the rule is supposed to be implemented. Umpire has to have some common sense”.
The crucial goal gave Hawthorn a 15-point lead, and they used the momentum to run away with a 49-point victory.
