Bart
18th March 2004, 03:07 PM
The bladder
by STAFF REPORTERS
Sydney forward Barry Hall will receive retrospective free kicks at the start of the AFL premiership season, following last week's admission by umpires honcho Jeff Gieschen that Hall was stiffed during 2003.
Gieschen said several umpires had been "counselled and coached" over their failure to award obvious free kicks to Hall during last season.
"Just apologising isn't really enough," Gieschen told The Bladder. "So we've decided to award the outstanding free kicks to Hall retrospectively. After reviewing the tapes, this has added up to 57 frees that we missed, so he will be taking them at the start of this season."
Under the scheme, Hall will be awarded a free kick every time he touches the ball in a premiership season game, until his total number of frees reaches 57. Genuine free kicks awarded to Hall will not contribute to the total.
The announcement has angered Brisbane, who face Sydney in the first round. Coach Leigh Matthews said he fully expected Hall to kick 25-40 goals in the game due to retrospective free kicks.
The AFL, however, are dismissive of the claims, pointing out that free kicks awarded just for touching the ball have worked well in the past, particularly for Matthew Lloyd.
by STAFF REPORTERS
Sydney forward Barry Hall will receive retrospective free kicks at the start of the AFL premiership season, following last week's admission by umpires honcho Jeff Gieschen that Hall was stiffed during 2003.
Gieschen said several umpires had been "counselled and coached" over their failure to award obvious free kicks to Hall during last season.
"Just apologising isn't really enough," Gieschen told The Bladder. "So we've decided to award the outstanding free kicks to Hall retrospectively. After reviewing the tapes, this has added up to 57 frees that we missed, so he will be taking them at the start of this season."
Under the scheme, Hall will be awarded a free kick every time he touches the ball in a premiership season game, until his total number of frees reaches 57. Genuine free kicks awarded to Hall will not contribute to the total.
The announcement has angered Brisbane, who face Sydney in the first round. Coach Leigh Matthews said he fully expected Hall to kick 25-40 goals in the game due to retrospective free kicks.
The AFL, however, are dismissive of the claims, pointing out that free kicks awarded just for touching the ball have worked well in the past, particularly for Matthew Lloyd.