‘Absurdity’ of action

CHRIS Scott has an ally in Sydney counterpart John Longmire after the Geelong coach called for AFL matchday reports to be scrapped.

Cats utility Jordan Murdoch was booked for rough conduct on the stroke of halftime at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday for making high contact with Sydney’s Isaac Heeney in the Swans’ 17-point victory.

The report seems almost certain to be thrown out, with the contact mostly incidental and Heeney unharmed.

Scott believes AFL umpires should no longer make gameday reports, leaving all disciplinary action to match review officer Michael Christian.

“I think it highlights the absurdity of match-day reports,” Scott said. “To put the pressure on umpires to feel like they have to intervene in split-second moments like that is really unfair on them. It serves no purpose at all.”

Scott felt the incident involving Murdoch and Heeney did not even warrant a free kick to the Swans player, let alone a report.

He said it is unfair for players to be adversely affected for the rest of a game by a report that would most likely get thrown out.

Longmire wasn’t as strong in his position when he spoke to 3AW yesterday but agreed having umpires make reports had probably become outdated.

“I’m sure the AFL have a reason why they do it but there is obviously a really efficient way of reviewing games afterwards now,” Longmire said.

“You’d have to ask the AFL specifically why they do it but there’s a lot of scrutiny on the games now and incidents that happen. I probably agree with what (Scott) said.”

The AFL has changed the tribunal process this season, with Christian reviewing all matches.