Another umpiring target...

Despite annual assurances by the umpiring administrators that their charges do not target certain rules or interpretations at certain times, it seems there's been another blitz by AFL umpires in recent weeks. Fifty-metre penalties seem to be all the rage, with one being handed out this past weekend because the offending player pointed at the umpire! It may be reasonable to expect players to show respect to the officials and to penalise threatening words and gestures or accusations of bias, but pointing?

Some senior umpires also appear to be fundamentalists. That is, they adhere to the strict letter of the law. Thus we have players on their feet penalised when a player dives head first at their legs and others penalised when their arms brush, incidentally, against their opponent's in a marking contest.