Gerard Healy isn’t happy with the current state of the hands in the back rule, labelling the interpretation a “major embarrassment”.
The rule is in the spotlight again after a contentious decision in Friday night’s game between Geelong and Brisbane, where in the dying stages of the game defender Harris Andrews wasn’t paid a free kick despite opponent Tom Hawkins appearing to put his hands in the back of the Lions defender.
Former AFL football boss Steve Hocking tightened the interpretation several years ago in an attempt to provide clarity on the rule, banning any form of hand being placed on the back of an opponent.
Healy said he wasn’t happy with the “continuing support” of the current interpretation of the rule, saying it has now become a “major blight” on the sport.
“The ugly (from Round 4) is the continuing support I’ve heard over the weekend for the hands in the back rule,” he said on Sportsday.
“Ever since Steve Hocking changed it, it has become a major blight on the game and a major embarrassment, umpires can’t decipher what is and isn’t a push in the back and it’s the very reason the rules were changed some years ago banning any hands in the back.
“It’s more than ugly, it’s embarrassing and the rule should again be changed back to ban hands in the back.”