No more Mr Nice Guy: AFL puts its clubs on notice over umpire criticism

The AFL has warned the clubs that they will no longer allow public criticism of umpiring, match review and tribunal decisions and that the next person who crosses the line will face sanction.

AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon and his senior football lieutenant Greg Swann communicated this warning to club CEOs on Tuesday.

“The AFL needs to get it together, the constant rule changes and the MRO is laughable,” Simpkin said on Instagram.

“Players don’t know what they can and can’t do anymore. Just hope for the best each week.”

“It was like the Roman Colosseum. I reckon they [the umpires] were waiting for the crowd to do this one [thumbs down] then, all of a sudden, free kick,” Hardwick said at the time, conceding the umpiring was not the reason his team lost.

“At the end of the day it is what it is, home-ground advantage, we understand that, we know you’re up against it from the start, but a couple of them, I thought, weren’t there.”

A source from Tuesday’s meeting said the AFL was satisfied with Hardwick’s response, but the bosses made it clear to clubs that the leniency afforded him and Simpkin would not continue.

Meanwhile, the AFL is willing to discuss adding extra player(s) to the interchange bench as a way of reducing the load on players during the season.

Dillon and Swann told the club CEOs that they were taking their feedback on board on reducing game time, and even adding players to the bench.

The theory, promoted by some clubs, is that an extra player, or players, would cut game time overall for individual players, and reduce the games’ length by one to two minutes per quarter.

Dillon confirmed to the clubs that the league intended to push ahead with State of Origin next year. The AFL was looking at South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria has host states.

The league remains committed to the Indigenous All-Stars game, but not in the next year or two.

The meeting had a rundown on the rules for the list build of the Tasmania Devils, still slated to enter the competition in 2028.

Earlier, there was a presentation from the AFL to clubs on how they could best utilise artificial intelligence.

Zak Butters says the AFL isn’t ready for NRL-style honesty about player movement as he weighs offers to become his code’s richest footballer.

Port Adelaide’s acting captain says he’s laughing off some of the reported offers while remaining steadfast in not deciding his future until season’s end.

Butters believes the AFL landscape isn’t yet equipped for NRL scenarios where some players announce in-season their decision to switch clubs.

“I just