THE DELIBERATE out of bounds rule became a punchline on Saturday night, with Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge comparing the week-to-week confusion around its interpretation to an episode of Fawlty Towers.
A number of contentious decisions were made in the Bulldogs' thrilling win over Richmond at Etihad Stadium, including a final-minute penalty against Jayden Short deep in the Tigers' forward line.
WATCH: The final two minutes of WB v Rich
The AFL this week re-framed the language around the deliberate rule, with football operations manager Simon Lethlean saying players who showed "insufficient intent" to keep the ball in play ran the risk of being penalised.
While Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said the game was becoming too difficult for umpires to adjudicate, Beveridge saw the funny side in the League's new direction on deliberate out of bounds.
"Is that what the crowd were yelling out? 'Insufficient intent! Insufficient intent!'," Beveridge said after his team's five-point win.
"Ultimately if you're kicking it out of a pressured situation and there's smothering hands, the ball needs to go a certain way for you to clear the area. Now, is that insufficient intent?
"I don't know how it went tonight. There were definitely ones that weren't paid that were paid last week, so the insufficient intent, is it clearer or less clear? I don't know.
"I feel like, is this Morecambe and Wise or Fawlty Towers? I'm not sure."
WATCH: Luke Beveridge's full post-match media conference
Hardwick had little to say on the controversial free kick paid against Short, but suggested a number of rules had become too complex to be applied consistently.
"I actually feel really sorry for the umpires, the amount of interpretations they've got to make. We just keep adding layer upon layer, so I don't blame the umps at all," Hardwick said.
"The holding the ball rule, how many interpretations are in that? It's not their fault they've got to go through five decisions to make an actual decision, so I actually think they do a pretty good job to be honest under the circumstances."
