Liam Durkin
THERE was mass confusion in the thirds match between Glengarry and Yarram in round two of the North Gippsland Football-Netball League following a head count with around five minutes to go in the last quarter.
The head count was called by Yarram after a Glengarry player was sent off the ground and another player mistakenly took his place on the field.
While most people associate an exceeded head count with the wiping of points, the rules have been changed in recent years.
Under Laws of Australian Football 2019 – where a team has more than the permitted number of players on the playing surface, the field umpire shall award a free kick to the captain or acting captain of the opposing team, which shall be taken at the centre circle or where play was stopped, whichever is the greater penalty against the offending team, then a 50 metre penalty shall be imposed from the position where the free kick was awarded, and the team shall lose all points which it has scored in that quarter up to the time of the count.
Given Glengarry had registered a score of 7.7 (49) to three-quarter time and Yarram finished the match on 6.11 (47), the wiping of points would have still meant a Magpie victory.
At the time The Express went to print, the score had been entered into GameDay as a two-point Glengarry win 7.7 (49) to 6.11 (47).
It is understood the matter will be investigated by the North Gippsland Football-Netball League this week, with an official ruling to come.
Yarram are understood to not be holding any hope the result will get overturned, and reported the head count did not cause a great deal of controversy on the day.
The episode has evoked memories of the
infamous ‘Siren Gate’ saga that plagued the match between St Kilda and Fremantle in 2006, where the siren failed to sound at the end of the match.
