SYDNEY coach John Longmire has called for commonsense to prevail after a couple of bizarre incidents last week regarding the new ‘third man up’ rule.
The AFL announced on Monday that it would seek feedback from clubs on how to adjudicate anomalies with the controversial rule change, which was introduced over summer to eliminate the 'third man up' at ruck contests.
The rule does not allow for a player outside each teams' ruckman – who must be nominated before a ball-up or boundary throw in - to touch the ball, even if a throw-in doesn't travel far enough, which caused issues in last week's JLT Community Series.
Adelaide midfielder Dean Gore was penalised when he was hit by a shallow throw-in against Geelong, while North Melbourne captain Jack Ziebell also gave away a free kick under the new rule.
West Coast coach Adam Simpson said on Wednesday that he didn’t understand the need for the rule change and was keen for the AFL to leave such matters alone.
Longmire, on the other hand, supports the change and told AFL.com.au that while the Gore free kick was a strange one, there was no reason to get carried away or start changing things.
"Let's not be too knee-jerk in our reactions just because we had a couple of incidents on the weekend," he said.
"Certainly it's worth talking about what happened last week, but the AFL will work through that and work out something that makes sense and we'll get through it ok.
"There's been a lot of boundary throw-ins over the first few rounds and we haven't had too many incidents like that, but it's a bit different so people jump up and down about it.
"Let’s just take a deep breath and think about what can be done if that happens again, and it will."
The 2012 premiership coach said any rule that can promote the safety and wellbeing of his players was one that would receive his full support, pointing to an injury to star Swan Kurt Tippett in last year's qualifying final as the perfect example of the need to protect the competition's ruckmen.
Tippett was contesting a ball-up with Shane Mumford when he was accidentally kneed in the face by GWS midfielder Callan Ward, who was the Giants' third man up specialist.
"Having played in the ruck myself and being in a position where you don't know where the third man is coming from, you can leave yourself in a vulnerable position," Longmire said.
"I mean 'Tippo' (Kurt Tippett) had his jaw broken in two places last year by the third man coming in.
"It's really difficult for the umpires to adjudicate just what is a block or a free kick to the ruckman, and it's different to a marking contest because you can control it.
"Anything that we can control that adds to the welfare and safety of the players is something we should consider."